Chloe Zhao's Directorial Debut Songs My Brothers Taught Me Aches With Reality

Right now in London, director Chloe Zhao is directing The Eternals, the twenty-fifth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This Angelina Jolie-headlined motion picture will be the fourth directorial effort from Zhao but it will easily be the biggest motion picture she's helmed. Up to this point, Zhao has directed indie features so small in scale that they make the earlier works of fellow MCU directors like James Gunn or Jon Favreau look like Cecil B. DeMille epics by comparison. However, such an intimate storytelling approach has worked exceedingly well for the fascinating stories Zhao (who is tied with Ryan Coogler and Taika Waititi as the most talented director Marvel has ever snagged for one of their movies) has chosen to tell. Such films have included The Rider, one of last years best movies, and her directorial debut Songs My Brothers Taught Me.

The Rider Masterfully Channels Reality To Contemplate How We Define Ourselves Against Societal Expectations

We'd all like to believe we have a firm grasp on how our identity is formed but that's simply not true. Our identity is much like a river, it ebbs and flows depending on what it runs up against. All those external factors in our lives, some big, others small, have an impact on how we define ourselves. Sometimes such outermost circumstances help us to grow in positive ways, but sometimes they're more constrictive than anything else on our personalities, particularly when it relates to a society trying to keep someone from stepping out of traditional norms. Such a specific scenario is what the lead character of the tremendously thoughtful Chloe Zhao directorial effort The Rider is grappling with.