‘A Picture of You’ – an American dramedy Asian style

September 12, 2014, 3:51 PM MST

A Picture of You”, self taught writer- director, J. P. Chan’s, first feature film, is the story of personal loss, sibling rivalry, and a shocking unexpected discovery. This dramedy is about an estranged older brother and younger sister who come together to pack the personal belongings of their recently deceased mother’s. Their mutually unresolved issues impede any attempt to come together in peace. That is until something unexpected of their mother’s is discovered to further complicate matters.

Set in a beautiful small secluded wooded artist community, the elder brother Kyle ( played broodingly by Andrew Pang), had been taking care of his mother, ( played gracefully by Jodi Long), through her passing. While his sister, Jen (played rebelliously by Jo Mel), lived and studied in New York  City. Shortly after the funeral, Jen comes to rural Pennsylvania bringing her boyfriend, Doug (Lucas Dixon) and best girlfriend Mika (Teyonah Parris), to “hang out” and run interference, while she helps her brother pack and close the mother’s house.

Chan tells a story that is all too familiar of family politics and responsibility. We watch as Kyle, the responsible care-giver, scolds his younger sister for her privileged, free-spirited attitude. While Jen is a caring person, it is clear she had issues with her mother and is now in many ways finally growing up. We see their values through their mother’s home in its very modern tucked away community. More is told by the constant images of their young spirited mother

remembering mother riding her bicycle on the road wearing flowered summer dresses. As they argue and continue packing her belongings they find favorite books of poetry, read passages she underlined, and remembered favorite childhood songs she sang to them. But when they stumble on a batch of pictures, they find images they never could have imagined.