Preparation for the Next Life

Aishe, trained in combat skills by her father, leaves her homeland and arrives in New York where she scrambles for stability inside Chinatown's back‑of‑house kitchens. She keeps to routines, a private resolve shaped by displacement and hard labor. Skinner, a young American soldier fresh from three tours in the Middle East, turns up in the same neighborhood, tentative and changed by what he saw overseas. Their meetings are quiet at first, filled with small kindnesses and awkward honesty, and a slow attachment grows as they share fragments of history and hurt. The film traces how their bond alters expectations about home, work, and safety, staying focused on their evolving connection while keeping the outcome undisclosed.

Released in 2025, Preparation for the Next Life was directed by Bing Liu, with creator credits to Atticus Lish and Martyna Majok, drawing on Lish's source material. The cast includes Sebiye Behtiyar as Aishe, Fred Hechinger as Skinner, Landyn Lu, Ella Rouwen Chen, and B. Todd Johnston.

The movie opened in a limited theatrical run and targeted arthouse and festival audiences, rather than wide commercial play. It reached viewers primarily through specialty cinemas and smaller release windows, so it didn't register as a mainstream box office success.

Critical reaction has been mixed, reflected in an average score of 5.722/10 from 18 votes. Many reviewers highlighted the performances, especially Behtiyar's portrayal of Aishe and Hechinger's restrained turn as a veteran. Commentary often centers on themes of displacement, intimate rebuilding after trauma, immigrant labor, and cultural friction, while some critics pointed to uneven pacing and a deliberate, slow reveal of backstory.

Though not a broad cultural phenomenon, the film prompted conversations about Uyghur representation and the realities of underground labor in immigrant neighborhoods. Its sensitive focus on a rarely seen protagonist and the pairing of an immigrant woman with a returning soldier spurred discussion in film circles and community screenings interested in underrepresented narratives.