‘Zi’ review: Kogonada’s elliptical drama follows a troubled Hong Kong woman over a pivotal day

Dir/scr: Kogonada. US. 2026. 99mins

Beguiling but dramatically flimsy, writer-director Kogonada’s fourth feature traces the life of a young musician over the course of one pivotal day. Zi conjures up a dreamy mood of dislocation, casting Michelle Mao as the title heroine who wanders through Hong Kong convinced she’s having visions of her future self. Consistently intriguing and filled with tender interludes, this elliptical drama is the filmmaker’s most experimental work – although it frustrates as much as it enraptures.

Beguiling but dramatically flimsy

Shot in three weeks with little fanfare, Zi serves as a stark change of pace for Kogonada after releasing last year’s critically and commercially disappointing major-studio debut, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. In its intimate exploration of human connection, this new picture most closely resembles his first feature, 2017’s Columbus, which also premiered at Sundance. Theatrically, the film will be strictly an arthouse proposition, catering to adventurous viewers.

Zi (Mao) has just been given discouraging news: there is a good chance she may have a brain tumour. Reeling from the shock, this concert violinist receives another jolt when she believes she sees herself across the street talking to a woman with a blonde wig. Later that day, that same woman, the outgoing Elle (Kogonada regular Haley Lu Richardson), comes up to her, having no idea about the earlier interaction Zi thinks she saw. Concerned about Zi, Elle offers to introduce her to Min (Jin Ha), her former fiance, who works at the neurology centre Zi will be visiting the following day.

Working with a soundtrack that sports both jumpy electronic tunes and gorgeous piano ballads, Kogonada puts the viewer under a spell, weaving disjointed cutting and slow-motion into the narrative to give us a sense of Zi’s fraught inner world as she grapples with her diagnosis. At one point, she confesses that she has always felt untethered, and throughout the picture Kogonada creates the sensation of floating, often gliding away from the central storyline to include static streets scenes of Hong Kong, the bustling metropolis humming around the characters.

Made quickly with a relatively small crew and boasting a looser, more free-wheeling approach to his previous work, Zi coasts along on its contemplative, mysterious vibe. Invitingly odd things occur during the film which are not always resolved, starting with Zi’s insistence that she is seeing visions. Soon, a fleeting, cryptic image of Zi sitting on a bench with an older woman becomes a teasing recurring motif. Even Elle’s initial decision to approach a sobbing Zi on the street is treated as a bizarre coincidence — a magical twist of fate that will impact both their lives. Their unlikely encounter will eventually also affect Elle and Min, who have not seen each other in months and are suddenly forced to reexamine their breakup after so much silence between them.

With much of the film taking place at night, cinematographer Benjamin Loeb further enhances the story’s otherworldly quality, shooting in a boxy aspect ratio and emphasising shadows and fluorescent lights as the three characters’ relationship becomes more intertwined. But where Kogonada’s earlier indies, in particular Columbus, focused on the fragile bonds formed by strangers, his latest picture struggles to be emotionally engaging. As much as Zi celebrates luck and random chance, Zi, Elle and Min come across as abstractions, as opposed to fully fleshed-out people who can ground this ruminative, wispy tale.

Mao, who appeared in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, has the tricky task of externalising a woman who is quietly processing a potential health crisis. Yet the riddles regarding Zi’s visions ultimately prove more fascinating than Zi herself. Richardson shone in Columbus as a goodhearted person trying to escape from a rut, but Elle is conceived as quirky more than effervescent – soemthing even this charismatic actress cannot fully overcome. Kogonada’s visuals are often poetic, but in Zi his dialogue can be awfully clunky, keeping these three lonely souls from developing a kinship as resonant as his striking images.