Inspired by a harrowing true story, Lucy Liu transforms in a riveting, career-redefining performance as an ailing woman who takes drastic measures to protect her troubled teenage son.
Inspired by a harrowing true story, Lucy Liu transforms in a riveting, career-redefining performance as an ailing woman who takes drastic measures to protect her troubled teenage son.
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Fun Facts
Screenwriter Marilyn Fu optioned Frank Shyong’s 2017 L.A. Times piece “A dying mother’s plan: Buy a gun. Rent a hotel room. Kill her son” within 48 hours of publication, convinced the harrowing true story could become a feature-length empathy bomb.
Liu boarded the project in 2020 and stayed attached through financing collapses, recasts, and COVID shutdowns—turning down two studio pilots so she could keep her dates open for Irene. She also co-produced, making Rosemead the first film she’s shepherded from script to screen.
Composer Will Bates (The Sound of Silence) ran NYC subway recordings through granular delay, then layered bowed electric guitar to keep the tension humming under domestic dialogue—no traditional “weepy strings” allowed.
World-premiered June 6, 2025 at Tribeca, then hit Piazza Grande in Locarno and won the Prix du Public UBS (audience award) – rare for a U.S. indie drama in a euro-heavy lineup.