Synopsis

Inspired by the 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 (Lawrence Shou). As his dark obsessions grow and time runs out, she is forced to make impossible choices: how far will she go and what is she willing to sacrifice? Set against the simmering tensions of a Chinese American community, Rosemead is a gripping portrait of a family pushed to the edge.

Festivals & Awards

2025 24th Tribeca Festival - U.S. Narrative Competition - World Premiere

2025 78th Locarno Film Festival - Career Achievement Award: Lucy Liu

2025 1th Bentonville Film Festival – Best Narrative Feature

Scriptwriter(s)

Marilyn Fu, Eric Lin

Producer(s)

Mynette Louie, Andrew D. Corkin, Lucy Liu

Executive Producer(s)

Theo James, Eric Lin, Peng Zhao and more

Key Casts

Lucy Liu, Lawrence Shou, Orion Lee, Jennifer Lim, Madison Hu, James Chen

Curators’ note

Loneliness, struggle, helplessness, resistance. With no way out between illness and her son’s psychological crisis, Irene is no longer an individual case, but a mirror of the silent wounds carried by a vast community. Lucy Liu delivers a deep and powerful performance. Every moment of physical tension and every despairing glance make the complex emotional reality of a Chinese immigrant mother viscerally tangible. All her efforts and restraint finally condense into one line, the simplest yet most complex declaration: “Sweetheart, mommy will always love you.” (Yaxuan Dai）

Director’s Statement

When I first encountered the Hang family’s story, it resonated deeply with my own upbringing as a Taiwanese American in Southern California. The world of Rosemead awakened vivid sense memories—the dialects, sunlight, and crowded strip malls of the San Gabriel Valley—and the feeling of living between belonging and alienation. Irene’s journey felt painfully familiar to me through my family’s experience with mental illness, where love often manifested as silence, protection, and shame. Rosemead is a story about devotion pushed to its limits, and about the devastating cost of isolation. I felt compelled to direct this film truthfully, using intimate performances to honor lives too often hidden or misunderstood. (Excerpt)