Salli (2023)

Hui-Jun, a chicken farmer from a rural village in Taiwan, lives with her soon-to-be-married younger brother and her teenage niece, Xin-Ru. When her relatives claim that she, being unmarried, should not attend her brother’s wedding reception, she feels guilty. On a dating app that Xin-Ru downloads on her phone, Hui-Jun uses the alias “Salli” and develops a romantic relationship with a French man named Martin. But when Martin suddenly becomes unreacheable, she decides to travel to Paris to find him. To Hui-Jun, the world she experiences for the first time outside her small village is unfamiliar but splendid. Leaving behind her family, who view her as a source of concern, she is determined to prove herself through trials and challenges. The narrative about the personal growth of a thirty-eight-year-old woman, the actors’ performances, and the aptly timed music all contribute to the film’s delightful charm.