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Lucy Liu’s ‘Rosemead’ Opens Friday, Aiming a Clear Lens at Mental-Health Barriers

Drawn from a 2017 Los Angeles Times report, the film foregrounds linguistic authenticity to reveal the obstacles an immigrant caregiver faces.

Overview

  • Lucy Liu produced the film and stars as Irene, a Chinese American mother caring for a son with schizophrenia while confronting her own health crisis.
  • Director Eric Lin makes his feature debut, co-writing with Marilyn Fu and incorporating reporter Frank Shyong’s interviews and notes to ground the story.
  • The narrative highlights limited support from counselors and police, including confusion around a California 5150 psychiatric hold for a non-native English speaker.
  • Much of the film is in Mandarin, with select lines drawn directly from Shyong’s article to preserve cultural and linguistic specificity.
  • The movie begins a limited theatrical run on Dec. 5, and early reviews such as JoBlo’s praise Liu’s performance as a career best.