Woman's shoes in front of the apartment's door mean that Dio (Shao-Jang Huang) should stay outside until their owner is gone. He doesn't even react to it with irritation, but is silently waiting for the coast to be clear, seated on the steps. There is no one at home who will great him with a welcoming smile anyway. Dio and his father Ray (amazing Ju Lin) have lost words for each other long time ago.
Raydio is screening at Black Movie
There are very few movies that catch the void of the pandemic-stricken years which have paralyzed our existence for few years. “Raydio” manages to bring them back in all their scaringly recognizable awkwardness: scarcity of jobs, social distancing, masks, empty cinemas and alienation. Zhan does it without pathos. But most of all, he makes us recall the sense of never-ending days emptied of joy. But as much as Covid-19 might be in the background, it is also there it stays, just giving us bits and pieces of that recently involuntarily lived life, with an exception of one single scene which also stands out as the only funny one. While looking at two men in protective suits spraying the multiplex cinema where he's working as a concession attendant, Dio is fantasizing of experiencing Neil Amstrong's first steps on the moon and hearing him saying the famous words: “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”.
It is in this setting that Kaidi Zhan puts the story of a dysfunctional father-son relationship doomed to an even worse destiny. With nerve-scratching tension that builds around the unsaid and wrong-doings, and Ned Young's original score rooted in free jazz, “Raydio” keeps the interest going although there isn't much happening through the most of the film's runtime. The real ‘action' is present only in the first scene and at the very end, but those are not meant to entertain you but to accentuate the very core of the problem that defines who Dio and Ray are.
The psychological side of the story works well, with the full-blooded character development given through strong acting. Besides Shao-Jang Huang and Ju Lin, the hypnotic performance by Chia-en Chen as the ex-wife and estranged mother Anna should not be left unmentioned. Hers is also the most complex character, mysterious and strong with a hint at a big trauma that makes her empathetic in situations in which the spectator won't be totally in clear why.
Each of the family members is broken, each hurting and prone to self-destruction. Anne is on the run from herself, and on her way to China officially for work, but unofficially as it seems – from her ex who's constantly pestering her with requests for money loans due to gambling debts. Ray is neglecting the fact he owes too much money to people with whom he should not play games, and Dio is developing an unhealthy obsession with his co-worker, turning into her stalker.
This deep-cutting drama is written and directed by Kaidi Zhan
