Oscar-nominated filmmaker Bing Liu (the documentary Minding the Gap) has turned his attention toward narrative filmmaking with the heartbreaking love story Preparation for the Next Life, concerning a pair of outsiders who somehow find each other at a time when neither one is really ready to fall in love. Continuing with the director’s love of having events on screen feel unscripted, very little about this movie comes across as anything but authentic—sometimes tragically so—and the result feels like its happening to real people and not simply characters.
The first of many small miracles that Liu manifests is the casting of newcomer Sebiye Behtiyar (one of the first Uyghur women to lead a major American film) as undocumented Uyghur immigrant Aishe, who makes her way to New York City and finds work in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant near Times Square. She finds it necessary to live in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of anyone who might identify her as undocumented. She barely speaks, but what little we learn about her, we can’t help but admire. She keeps herself in great physical shape, exercising constantly. She learned from her late father (who was in the military when she was growing up) that a strong body helps keep a strong, sharp mind, and she’s taken these lessons to heart. At one point in the film, she’s incarcerated, but we know she’ll be okay when she finds the time and space to workout.
After settling into her daily routine, Aishe meets Skinner (Fred Hechinger from The White Lotus, the Fear Street trilogy, Nickel Boys, Gladiator II), a three-tour Iraq veteran clearly suffering from PTSD and also a new NYC arrival, but he has enough charm and persistence to win her over. The two also see a connection to each other in that they seem to exist best in the shadows of an America that is either done with them or never wanted them in the first place. Their bond is deep and visceral and eventually unhealthy as Skinner begins drinking too much and revealing anger-management issues.
Based on the novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, Preparation brings a cultural specificity to the role of Aishe but to Skinner as well, being one of thousands of military veterans with untreated and/or undiagnosed PTSD; he has pills for his issues but doesn’t always take them. But it’s Behtiyar sho truly shines in her performance as a young woman who uses words sparingly (her English is actually superb), but functions more of an observer, with her eyes always watching the world around her. Having a significant other forces her eyes to settle on one person, but this can be dangerous for her...and eventually is.
Emotionally, the film is quietly devastating, but it also gives equal time to Aishe’s spiritual journey (she’s a lapsed Muslim), as well as issues of class, the migrant experience, and the quickly dying American dream, which was originally designed as a goal for non-Americans to strive toward. Liu holds tight to his non-fiction roots by making everything feel natural and captured rather than shot by professionals, but his filmmaking skills are also on full display, capturing little moments many other directors would ignore or edit out. This is truly one of the most beautiful films of 2025.
The film is now playing in Chicago, exclusively at the Alamo Drafthouse in Wrigleyville.
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