Seen, Not Solved

Read Time:5 Minute, 21 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Banana Split
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Genre: Comedy, Drama
Year Released: 2026
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director(s): Walter Kim
Writer(s): Walter Kim
Cast: Jessica Chung, Min-Gu
Where to Watch: shown at the 2026 Dances with Films New York

RAVING REVIEW: What does it actually mean to be seen when grief, culture, and self-protection have told you to disappear? That question sits at the center of BANANA SPLIT. It never pretends to be a thesis and never wraps up the idea. Walter Kim’s debut feature understands that the most honest conversations about identity and loss rarely come in the form of speeches. They surface in hesitation, in miscommunication, in the awkward silence of two people sharing space before they know how to share themselves.

Shot in black and white and staged across a weekend, BANANA SPLIT follows Peter and Alice, two Asian-American strangers forced into an uncomfortable proximity by a scheduling mistake in Peter’s late sister’s New York apartment. It’s a simple setup, almost deceptively so. What Kim does with that premise is what gives the film its staying power. This isn’t a high-concept dramedy chasing cleverness for its own sake. It’s a character study that trusts friction more than momentum and lets emotional truths emerge at their own pace.

Min-Gu’s Peter is defined by restraint. He’s grieving, but not in ways that draw attention or invite sympathy. His coping mechanisms are quiet and strange, including a habit of photobombing tourists, a small act of rebellion that says more about his desire to exist in the frame than any monologue could. Peter has learned how to be invisible, and the film never mocks that instinct. It treats it as learned behavior, shaped by loss and reinforced by cultural expectations that place composure over confrontation.

Jessica Chung’s Alice operates on the opposite wavelength. She’s chaotic and frequently exhausting, but never written as a stereotype or a counterpoint designed to fix Peter. Alice is also hiding, just from a different perspective. Chung gives the character a sharp edge without lessening her contradictions. Alice lies to her parents, lashes out when cornered, and tests boundaries as a way of asserting control over a life that’s slipping sideways. The performance is confident without being showy, grounded in emotional specificity rather than quirk.

What makes BANANA SPLIT work is how it refuses to turn this pairing into an inevitability. The connection between Peter and Alice is intimate without being sexual, meaningful without being some form of destiny. Kim understands how rare it is to see platonic intimacy treated with this much seriousness. Their bond forms through shared movement across the city, through meals, arguments, and moments of stillness that allow each to see the other clearly, sometimes uncomfortably so.

New York itself is never romanticized here. This isn’t a glossy love letter filled with perfect skylines or montage-driven nostalgia. The city is shown at street level as a place people pass through, carrying their unresolved lives with them. From Chinatown to quieter corners of Long Island, the locations feel chosen for texture rather than symbolism. BANANA SPLIT presents New York as a real space, not a fantasy, which aligns perfectly with the film’s interest in authenticity over performance.

The black-and-white cinematography reinforces emotional clarity. Stripped of color, the frame emphasizes faces, distance, and negative space. It invites the viewer to sit with discomfort rather than be distracted. The choice never feels like a declaration of seriousness. It feels practical, even intimate, as if color might have softened moments that needed to remain stark. I’m not entirely sure if this was intentional, but there’s a softness to the film as well; its levels weren’t adjusted for sharp contrast, but for an almost-hazy feel, with a dreamlike quality that enhances the experience.

Kim’s writing shows restraint that’s especially impressive for a debut—allowing scenes to breathe and trusting his actors to carry meaning without constant reinforcement. Humor feels natural, often as a release rather than just a punchline. The jokes don’t undercut the grief at the film’s core.

What’s most refreshing is the film’s refusal to offer clean-cut answers about identity. Kim’s stated interest in the internal conflict faced by Asian-Americans born in the U.S. is embedded in the narrative rather than layered on top of it. BANANA SPLIT doesn’t pretend to resolve that tension. It acknowledges the core question as ongoing and deeply personal. The characters don’t come out the other side healed or transformed into better versions of themselves. They appear more honest, which feels like the point.

BANANA SPLIT is a confident, emotionally intelligent debut that understands the power of small stories told with precision. It doesn’t chase universality by flattening its specificity. It finds universality by committing to it. This is a film about grief, identity, and connection that trusts its audience to meet it halfway. In a landscape crowded with louder, more declarative indie dramas, that restraint feels radical in the best way possible.

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