My New Friends

About This Movie

My New Friends is quite an intriguing piece from Tsai Ming-liang. It breaks away from the usual storytelling to deliver something raw and honest. The pacing is deliberately slow, which gives you time to really absorb the weight of the conversations. Tsai's willingness to focus on his own interactions with two young men living with HIV adds an intensely personal layer, something you rarely see in documentaries of the time. The atmosphere feels intimate, almost like eavesdropping on real, unfiltered moments. It certainly challenges the norms of its era, especially with its refusal to sanitize the subject matter. The performances are strikingly genuine, making this film stand out in his filmography. It’s more than just a document; it’s a window into the lives and struggles of those affected by the AIDS crisis in Taiwan.

Candid portrayal of HIV+ experiencesSlow pacing enhances emotional depthBreaks conventions of documentary storytelling