A Shot Through the Wall (dir. Aimee Long) x LAAPFF 2021.

It’s hard to describe just how misguided and cringe-inducing Long’s convoluted film is in trying subvert its police misconduct drama by replacing the typical white cop protagonist with an Chinese one (Kenny Leu) where he accidentally shoots an innocent young Black man as alluded by the title.

What follows is an extremely clunky and painfully earnest race relations story with uncomfortable details included only to ratchet up the melodrama like the cop’s African-American girlfriend and caucasian partner. How it unfolds gets more baffling and manages to say very little about police brutality in America other than it happens to all races. It says even less about being Asian-American or a “good cop” with zero subtext about institutionalized or systemic racism.

• Screened at the 2021 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.