Back in January, I breathlessly sang the praises of Advantageous, writer/director Jennifer Phang's smart, emotionally satisfying sci-fi film that was the best thing I saw at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition to its creative world building and subtly conveyed insights about the expectations of women in society, Advantageous also happens to have a mostly Asian cast without overtly being about Asianness, which makes it some kind of rare unicorn. It went on to win the festival's Special Jury Prize for Collaborative Vision, and has now been picked up by Netflix to begin streaming in all regions on June 23rd.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how Netflix viewers around the world will respond to the world we created."
"I'm looking forward to seeing how Netflix viewers around the world will respond to the world we created," Phang said in a statement. It's a great outcome for this kind of film — Netflix is probably where it can best find its logical audience, i.e. people who ran out of Black Mirror episodes. "We're finding those who saw it at Sundance and other festivals have been discussing the film long after watching," Phang said, and went on to announce that she will also be releasing the film with a director's commentary, on which she will be digging deeper into some of the ideas the film explores.
I know June 23rd is a month away, but seriously, put this one on your calendar! This is a special film, and it's great that more than a handful of people in NY/LA art houses will be able to see it.