Based on a short story by Alexander Weinstein, ‘After Yang’ is a compelling drama set in the alarmingly near future where domestic robots pervade our daily lives. A young couple, Jake and Kyra, adopt a daughter named Mika. To help her understand her place of birth and culture more, they also purchase an android as a carer and teacher—Yang. Forming a strong bond with her new companion, Mika is inconsolable when Yang malfunctions. As a discontinued model that was bought outside of the conventional channels, Jake faces an existential quest to repair Yang.

In the process, Jake uncovers secrets of the android’s previous life buried deep inside Yang’s core. Watching the fragmented memories of another from the outside, Jake realises his own life has been passing him by too. Through introspection and self-discovery, Jake begins to bridge the gaps in his family and reconnects with his wife and daughter across a distance he didn’t know was there. A reflective and thoroughly intriguing film, ‘After Yang’ is a contemplation on humanity, empathy, kinship and questions the nature of what it means to be truly alive.