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Preparation for the Next Life

Play trailer 2:21 Poster for Preparation for the Next Life R 2025 1h 55m Romance Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 33 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Aishe, a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown's underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner, a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discover the possibility of a better life together than the ones they believed they were destined to live alone.
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Preparation for the Next Life

Critics Reviews

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Christy Lemire FilmWeek (LAist) Dec 31
Sebiye Behtiyar is a star! Go to Full Review
Wendy Ide Observer (UK) Dec 15
The feature film debut from documentary-maker Bing Liu (best known for the Oscar-nominated Minding the Gap), this is an intimate, superbly acted account of lives on the margins. Go to Full Review
Peter Bradshaw Guardian Dec 9
3/5
This is a story in which happy endings are not guaranteed and in fact not forthcoming. It has a seriousness, an unsentimental readiness to look reality in the face. Go to Full Review
Lael Loewenstein FilmWeek (LAist) Dec 31
It could have been more connected narratively, but it was beautifully told and for most part moving. Go to Full Review
Andrew Murray The Upcoming Dec 19
3/5
With Preparation for the Next Life, director Bing Liu (Minding The Gap) creates a sombre portrait of life and all its chaotic messiness. Go to Full Review
Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Dec 12
3.5/5
Director Bing Liu, writer Martyna Majok and the gifted actors create a lovely sense that these characters are heading somewhere unknown. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Les N Dec 28 Sad. I know how he feels See more J P @quaere1verum Dec 17 Beautiful depiction of raw life. See more Imhotep C @TepOnSet Nov 28 I enjoyed this coming of age story. See more AA S Sep 10 The subject is strong. BUT the struggles never feel real enough. The dark side of the new life isn’t just drinking, drugs, or drifting— It’s that crushing mix of being invisible and still having to survive—the feeling of wanting to stand but not being able to, wanting to give up but being forced to keep going. Aishe, as an undocumented immigrant, is always one step away from being deported, stuck in restaurant kitchens and factory shifts, longing for a place in society that will never claim her. Skinner, on the other hand, carries the weight of a war he can’t shake off. Their stories together should create real tension, but the film skims over it. Love, sex, even survival all feel muted. The director seems to hold back—moments that should hit hard are passed over, covered instead with background music that stitches the story together a little awkwardly. The two leads meet in a way that feels forced. You never really feel the spark in their eyes. For Skinner, coming back from war, the world should feel dark and dead; her presence should have lit something up, a breath of life. The movie never captures that. From Aishe’s side, her feelings should be fragile, about being needed and being seen—not just some projection of her father, who’s also a veteran but hardly the same figure. One of the few scenes that really works is Skinner in the bathroom. That moment has weight—through silence and body language, you finally see the cracks in him. It’s like a wordless confession, the best bit of acting in the film. But scenes like this are rare, and the story never balances it with Aishe’s point of view. If the film had dug deeper into both sides—the undocumented woman living in the shadows and the soldier living with unhealed scars—it could’ve been so much stronger. Two souls recognizing each other in the cracks of the city. Yet without enough dramatic tension or a more visual rendering of their inner lives, this sense of fate comes across flat. The ending does carry a certain warmth—suggesting that even far from home, one keeps searching for a place lit up like home to start the new life. …. I couldn’t stop imagining another version: Skinner, drunk and still trapped in his own maze, calling her in New Mexico, where she has begun a new life. See more Mary C @MariaVaBene Sep 8 Good acting, cinematography and production design, but omg so slow. See more chris s Sep 7 The size of the story feels epic, and have the relationship feels very intimate. The two leads are really wonderful and they craft a compelling romantic and combative tension. Very impressive teamwork from the director being Lou, to the Cinematographer, to the art direction, the musical score and of course the acting See more Read all reviews
Preparation for the Next Life

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Preparation for the Next Life

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Movie Info

Synopsis Aishe, a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown's underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner, a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discover the possibility of a better life together than the ones they believed they were destined to live alone.
Director
Bing Liu
Producer
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins
Screenwriter
Martyna Majok
Distributor
Orion Pictures
Production Co
Amazon MGM Studios, Orion Pictures, Plan B, Pastel, Finding Leo Productions
Rating
R (Language and Brief Sexuality)
Genre
Romance, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 5, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA)
$31.8K
Runtime
1h 55m
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