RU

Adapted from the 2009 novel of the same name by Kim Thuy, Ru follows the coming-of-age story of Tinh, a young girl from Vietnam seeking refuge in Quebec with her family. Near the end of the Vietnam War, Tinh’s family is pushed out of the country due to her father’s ties to the Americanized capitalist government. Once a high-standing family with a gorgeous home and luxury lifestyle is suddenly experiencing some of the harshest quality of life imaginable trying to escape their home country. 

(Montreal Guardian) 

• The film is a poignant thing of beauty about healing and reconciliation: “I see the shadow lifting and light reflecting off you.”  
  John Arkelian 

• Director Charles-Olivier Michaud’s adaptation of Kim Thúy’s award-winning novel takes liberties in portraying the narrative, but maintains the emotions expressed on the page. And even though it focuses on one family several decades earlier, it’s a universal immigrant story that will resonate with audiences.
  Sarah Gopaul 

• Chloé Djandji is fabulous, and her parents, mother Nguyen, portrayed by Chantal Thuy and father Minh, performed by Jean Bui, provide an excellent framework for Chloe to emote her pain, confusion, and melancholy quietly (…) Ru is an exceptional and beautiful film. I highly recommend audiences to devour this soulful piece directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud, based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Kim Thuy.
  Isobel Grieve 

This adaptation based on Kim Thuy’s autobiographical novel of the same name tells the story of a ten-year-old child who had to flee her country to settle in another where everything is foreign to her. The work depicts the daily life and alienation of Tinh, Kim Thuy’s alter ego, who finds solace in a young Quebec woman and elderly compatriots who lavish their wisdom on her. Flashbacks throughout the narrative soberly reconstruct the difficult journey that has led the heroine and her family to this point. The film, which carries a message of openness, inclusion and hope, nevertheless contains an unexpected and striking performance scene that breaks, albeit briefly, from the restraint of the ensemble 

Translation – Collins 

TIFF (2023) 8 nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards