About

Premiering to acclaim at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Christopher Makoto Yogi's I Was a Simple Man is an entrancing portrait of aging patriarch Masao (Steve Iwamoto). As he comes to terms with his impending death, he is visited by family both living and ghostly — including his late wife Grace (Constance Wu), who guides him towards the world beyond his present.

Yogi's film is a tranquil vision that draws clear inspiration from the works of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is seemingly infused with the laconic spirit of its Hawaiian landscape, drifting between dreams and memory and reality in a way that shows their inextricable connection.