“Red”: why can't you stop seeing her?

Red arrived on the Disney Plus platform on March 11 and in just three days it became the most watched fiction ranking number one (based on the number of hours of viewing obtained). The film tells the story of Mei Lee, a 13-year-old girl who, in addition to facing the typical challenges of her age at school and with her family, must deal with a very special situation: every time she feels intense emotions, she turns into a giant red panda bear.

Under strict family rule, Meilin Lee (Mei, is her nickname) must face her own deepest fears and desires as she battles this alter ego, the tender red panda.

Directed by Domee Shi, the film features two renowned singer-songwriters such as the recent Oscar winner, Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, who were responsible for writing three songs for the band 4Town of which Mei Lee and her friends are super fans. Here are some keys to why Red should be part of the films you have to watch.

Camino a la pubertad

Perhaps one of Red's keys is Mei Lee's path to adolescence. “I really wanted to explore the conflicts of a girl entering adolescence, to show how she feels pulled between being a good daughter and accepting herself as she is, in all its chaotic complexity,” explains director Domee Shi. The mother-son bond is key in the growth of this girl who needs to please her mother but also wants to break that girlish mold well.

The group of friends

They are the stalwarts and the ones who really know the drama that Mei is going through. This is Abby, Miriam and Priya, who share with her a passion for the boy band 4*Town. The screenwriter, Julia Cho, took great care of Mei's bond of friendship and said: “I like to emphasize that component of female friendships because for too long the narrative has been that we are competitive, hierarchical and that we criticize each other harshly. The truth is different. And that became a very important part of the film.”

The food and the father of the family

It is one of Red's central condiments and that Shi decided would be one of the axes of the film. She took as a starting point her personal experience, regarding her father figure, who in Red moves to Jin. “It is the bastion of the family, docile but stoic. It's inspired by my dad, although my dad is a little more talkative. It is a good complement to Ming, the lower one to Earth. He is the silent hero”, says the director. Jin, Mei Lee's dad, makes dishes inspired by Taisan's cuisine that is based on steamed chicken and fish, abalone with tirabeques and unadon (grilled eel with sauce). The shelter Jin finds, in front of a house run by strong women (his wife, his unexpectedly arriving mother-in-law and his own daughter), is in the kitchen. He is a quiet, patient, calm character, who cooks and arranges the garden.

A trip to the past

Although it is not a remote time, the film is set in the 2000s. It recreates the beginning of this century that still preserved elements from the 90s such as CDs, fixed line phones placed on the wall, old computers, handheld video games style the famous Tamagotchi, and many VHS that are seen inside the furniture of Mei Lee's house.

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