Will You Look At Me (2022) | Chinese Queer Short Film Review & Story

Directed by Huang Shuli, Will You Look At Me is a deeply personal short film that premiered in the 75th Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week and was awarded the Queer Palm for Best Short Film.

Will You Look At Me (2027) Chinese Queer Short Film Review & Story

The documentary captures a young gay man’s return to his hometown of Wenzhou after studying abroad in New York. Through the lens of his camera, he seeks a conversation that has long been buried within — a confrontation with his mother about his sexuality, about identity, about distance, and longing.

Will You Look At Me Official Trailer

Will You Look At Me Summary

Title:Will You Look At Me
Movies Info: China (2022)
Length:20 minutes
Genre: Drama / short film / Boy's love

Plot

Returning from New York, the director begins filming moments of everyday life in his hometown. The camera becomes a shield and a bridge — documenting surroundings, memories, his mother’s routines, and most importantly, their conversations. As sound and image drift apart, we hear intimate exchanges between mother and son that reveal love, disappointment, cultural expectations, and grief.

Will You Look At Me (2027) Chinese Queer Short Film Review & Story

His mother refers to him as a “monster,” mourns the son she thought she had, and tries to rationalize his queerness as a deviation or a misstep. Yet through these painful confessions, what emerges is a desperate search for understanding — and perhaps forgiveness. The bus that passes between them during their final gaze is more than a vehicle; it is a symbol of the gap between generations, values, and identities.

Will You Look At Me Cast

Charactor

Himself
Huang Shuli
by
Shuli Huang

The filmmaker and protagonist. As both director and subject, Huang documents his return home, his struggle with identity, and his heartfelt yet painful conversations with his mother.

Director

Shuli Huang

Huang Shuli

Huang Shuli, born in 1997, graduated from Beijing Film Academy and later studied film at New York University. He worked as cinematographer on Stonewalling, Dwelling by the West Lake, and All Ears. This short film was originally shot during casual home recordings in Wenzhou, before organically evolving into a queer documentary.The film reflects a broader conversation in Chinese LGBTQ+ cinema, where queer identity is often navigated through familial and cultural confrontation, rather than social activism.

Will You Look At Me Review

Review

👍 Movie Review Score:4.1/5
Story
Direction
Impact
Production
Ending

A Queer Private Image
Will You Look At Me is part of a lineage of queer cinema that prioritizes personal truth over narrative convention. Unlike feature films like Farewell My Concubine, this is a whisper rather than a proclamation. The film employs a minimalist, poetic structure — relying on Super 8 footage, voiceover, and fragmentary imagery to evoke memory, tension, and silence.

Rather than framing coming out as a singular event, it unspools it as a process — uneven, ongoing, and quietly devastating. It’s not just about being gay; it’s about being unable to be seen by one’s own family. About being loved conditionally.

The director never attacks his mother. Instead, he allows her voice to coexist with his own. Even when she lashes out, the visuals often cut to her youthful face, or a quiet domestic moment. This duality — hurt and affection — runs throughout the film and makes it universally resonant.

Will You Look At Me Information

Festival Recognition

  • Cannes Film Festival (Critics’ Week, 2022) – Queer Palm, Best Short Film

  • Sundance Film Festival – Short Film Jury Award: Non-Fiction

  • Hong Kong International Film Festival – Firebird Award (Short Film Competition, Nominee)

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