If you were living in Los Angeles County during the 2010s, you might have heard of this 2017 case that was reported by the Pasadena Star News and the Los Angeles Times.  A mother, Lai Hang, was accused of murder, but she already had a death sentence and the film, “Rosemead” tackles the problems Lai Hang faced before she made a fatal decision and the problems of ethnic cultures in the treatment of mental health problems.

Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County that is 64% Asian American. Over 20% are Latino/Hispanic. Located in the San Gabriel Valley, it borders on Monterey Park.  White people only account for about 8% of the population. African American/Black people account for only 0.56%. The majority of the population are foreign-born (58.6%). The most common  birthplace is Vietnam (26.2%) and Mexico (27%).  According to Mapping LA, 33.6% are of Mexican descent and 28.1% are of Chinese.

Lai Hang was a survivor. In 2017, she was the lone survivor of her nuclear family, but she wasn’t originally from Los Angeles. According to the LA Times essay, she had been born in Lao, then moved to Hong Kong. In 1992, she moved to the US and married Peter. They opened Quality Printing & Graphics in Alhambra. They did well enough to buy a small house in Rosemead. In 1998, their only son, George was born.

But Peter died of cancer during George’s first year at Gabrielino High School and Lai Hang was treated for cancer. Lai Hang was also going to die, but she worried about her son, George, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Lai Hang worried that her son was growing violent and might turn to violence like James Holmes or Adam Lanza did in 2012.

Director Eric Lin makes a strong feature film directorial debut with “Rosemead.” He had previously directed shorts and has previously won awards as a cinematographer (“The Mule” at the First Run Festival and “A Rainy Day” at the Buenos Aires International Student Film Festival).  For “Rosemead,” he won the Prix du Public UBS Audience Award at the Locarno Film Festival and Best Director at the Twin Cities Film Festival as well as the Narrative Feature Competition award at the Bentonville Film Festival.  Marilyn Fu, who won the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award for the 2007 “The Sisterhood of Night” at the Tribeca Film Festival and is one of the writers on the upcoming “The Copenhagen Test”  flows in and out of Chinese and English.

The script changes the names.  Lucy Liu stars as the anxious Irene, working long hours while worrying about her son’s increasingly problematic behavior. Her son, Joe (Lawrence Shou), begins drawing weird, ominous pictures, even during quizzes. He is getting help and has sessions with a Dr. Hsu (James Chen), but people are reminding her that she only has control over Joe until he turns 18. And that approaching birthday and her terminal cancer diagnosis lead her to make a tragic decision.

Instead of sleek and in control as one’s used to seeing Liu, here she’s too tired for glamor, too anxious for smiles that capture her whole face. Her soul is tortured and Shou has the right amount of tremulous angst and potential danger to make us understand Liu’s Irene as she makes her decision. Under Lin’s guidance, there’s no wasted footage and no moment of exploitation of the violence or the double death sentence.

The film is very much a community-based production, based on Frank Shyong’s article. There will be a free public screening in Monterey Park that Shyong will attend on 8 December 2025 (Monday). The program begins at 6 p.m. UPDATE: Reservations are now closed. Limit was reached.

“Rosemead” had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. It will have a limited release on 5 December 2025. Rated R. In Chinese and English with English subtitles.