A single mother and her two daughters return to Taipei after several years of living in the countryside to open a stand at a buzzing night market. Each in their own way, will have to adapt to this new environment to make ends meet and succeed in maintaining the family unity. Three generations of family secrets begin to unravel after the youngest daughter who’s left-handed is told by her traditional grandfather to never use her “devil hand”.
왼손잡이 소녀
Cannes Critics' Week 
sweetest way to kick off the cannes trip
I absolutely fell in love with Shih-Ching Tsou’s solo directorial debut, LEFT-HANDED GIRL, and if you’re already a fan of Sean Baker’s work, chances are you will too. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Taipei’s night market, it’s a moving & sometimes funny examination of a single mother and her two daughters as they navigate the complexities of working-class life & family bonds. Think “Take Out” meets “The Florida Project.” With stellar performances from Janel Tsai, Ma Shih-yuan, and the irresistibly adorable Nina Yeh, paired with kinetic iPhone cinematography & Baker’s precise editing, it gradually finds its rhythm, building toward a powerful emotional climax where the family gathers for a celebration that turns into a devastating revelation of long-buried secrets. Can’t wait to see where Shih-Ching Tsou’s career goes from here.
Prior to Left-Handed Girl, Shih-Ching Tsou had exactly one directorial credit to her name—one from over two decades ago, and a co-directing gig at that. And yet, the hype surrounding her solo debut 21 years after Take Out remains fervent and steady, in large part because of the man who shared that directing credit all the way back in 2004.
For many, Left-Handed Girl is just as much a rapid return for recent Hollywood breakthrough and longtime indie champion Sean Baker as it is a long-belated return for Tsou, who has spent the intervening years producing and cameoing in virtually all of Baker's subsequent films. That the setting is this time Taipei rather than the remote corners of American life…
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2025 (Film #5)
Absolutely adored the latest Shih Ching Tsou and Sean Baker collab.
The rough iPhone look of Tangerine, the child performances of The Florida Project, the warmth of Starlet, the working class solidarity of Take-Out. It’s a mish-mash of all of their collabs into one beautiful, goofy package. Tons of laughter throughout (mainly thanks to the lead child actor, who is ADORABLE), and a really compelling and emotionally engaging story about family dynamics within a Taiwanese night market.
God, I loved it. It’s wonderful.
Pour mon plus grand bonheur y’a beaucoup de Sean Baker là dedans et la petite fille est merveilleuse !
proud to say that i am currently present for the extremely long standing ovation this is receiving at cannes in the presence of the cast and crew (yes! including sean baker!!)
If you love Sean Baker’s filmography, consider you’ve already loved this. Take Out x The Florida Project? It’s sweet, heartwarming and beautifully showcased the neon nights of Taipei. Motherhood and daughterhood presented in such honesty and comion. Poignant, endearing and slightly problematic just like the universal mother-daughter relationships. You just gotta love the iPhone cinematography, there were several scenes which were just so gorgeously shot, the scooter scene where one could actually see the street life of Taipei at night, really my type of film. The little girl was adorable. I absolutely loved this one.
oh how i loved this.
left handed girl is shih ching-tsou’s first solo feature after years of assisting sean baker, from production on all of his films to even directing on take out. i tilted my head to the thought of her absence in the making of anora, to find out she was working on this fantastic film.
you see ion through every shot of this film, and the fact that it was all shot on iphone as well!
the biggest thing i love about this film is that you see shih ching-tsou bring sean baker’s script help to the screen in her own way. as a huge fan of every sean baker film (besides four letter words, but no one’s start is perfect), it’s like watching someone you grew up with make their own form of art. and it’s the most wholesome thing ever.
looking forward to more films by you, shih ching-tsou ❤️
Though I am a left-handed boy, I feel represented and seen.
This is an extremely lovely, sometimes madcap coming-of-age story whose many tonal shifts and blowups I gravitated toward (even if I think this needs tightening in some spots).
the Sean Baker touch is throwing some halation and film grain on the iPhone footage
Just watched this in theaters with Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker!
I loved every second of this. It’s like if Tangerine, Takeout, and the Florida project had a beautiful Taiwanese baby 🫶
“This has been a very revealing birthday party.”
Director Shih-Ching Tsau and Sean Baker’s partnership gave us a truly great film as part of Cannes’s Semaine de la Critique.
Part coming-of-age, part tragicomedy, Left Handed Girl is an entertaining, funny, moving and deeply human look at what it means to be a woman in a world where we’ll never be worth as much as a man.
It is truly incredible to see the differing personalities across these three generations, and the way their relationships with each other affect them in ways we know will last.
Mothers and daughters, sisters, grandmothers and grandchildren. All of them with their own flaws and yet trying their best to be there for each other, even when some of their flaws are the result of the other’s actions.
