Mina Shum’s Whatcha Want is a straightforward drama that tackles cultural expectations of women. Yet underneath that is an overwhelming sweetness that just manages to keep itself on the right side of cheesy.
When a young trophy wife, Yin (Isabella Wei), a recent immigrant from Hong Kong, uncovers her wealthy husband’s BT’s (Hugh Tran) betrayal, she reignites her passion for dance when she meets Penny (Helen Dang), a dance instructor, forcing her to choose between the life she was given, keeping with the expectations of her culture and the liberation she longs for.
Films where the protagonist finds themselves and grows out of an oppression-filled bubble always do well with me, and Mina Shum’s Whatcha Want just about does that in this flawed dramedy. Despite there being a multitude of issues with the film, you are entertained, in the kind of way that you would happily place it as a comfort movie to watch.
It’s a film that almost feels like a tick-boxing exercise, with the right amount of charm, fun, and depth in character arcs, without ever diving deeper. This becomes clearer as we move further into the film, and Yin goes for her audition, which brings us to the dancing. Like the film, it’s adequate; it’s fun and expressive without ever letting itself stand out. Which is such a shame, as you are desperately wanting something to grab you here, but nothing ever truly does. However, it never teeters into bad. It’s always just fine.
As fun and important as the bus scene is, the fury that would be within me at seeing people do this on a bus I was on would be immeasurable, like having to endure people who decide to “perform” when you are trapped on an aeroplane.
Where Whatcha Want falters is in trying to have its cake and eat it narratively: Yin’s story of finding her own agency in a foreign country, despite the pressure to keep to the status quo and keep her marriage together, while rediscovering her love of dance, is more than enough story. Yet here, being someone who was merely good at dancing isn’t enough; she has to be someone destined to be a star. It dulls the impact and power of the first portion of the story, and it’s a shame, since it really doesn’t need it. The dance group are her new community, her new life away from BT; even the new romance is fine. It’s just too neat to give Yin too much.
Coupled with this is the at-times disappointingly stale dialogue that Whatcha Want struggles with. But when it focuses on Yin rediscovering herself and enjoying life in a new city, you can’t help but enjoy it. The strengths far outweigh the weaknesses, and you excuse the melodrama Mina Shum has placed in the film because, at its heart, Whatcha Want is sickeningly sweet and will have you smiling.
★★★
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