Directed by Ian Mah, from a script by Monica Côté & Natalie Garceau, ‘The Littlest Parchitect’ is a short musical film that explores a young woman’s ambition to travel. Li Chen leads the cast as a young Asian teenager who is adopted by a Canadian family, but limited by their stay-at-home lifestyle. A sweet, albeit bizarre film that showcases melancholic melodies throughout. The film explores themes of coming-of-age, adventure and identity.

The 6-minute film opens with the young woman crafting a tour-guide microphone and subsequently taking her stuffed toys on an adventure around the neighborhood. We learn, through song, of her desire to travel and her family’s resistance. The short doesn’t take itself too seriously as the narrative is entwined with humor throughout. Despite moments of fine melodies and humor, the film makes for cringeworthy viewing – which may cease audience engagement.

Li Chen delivers an acceptable performance from the get go – as much as the weak script will allow. Sadly, the narrative fails to grasp enough interest from the start. Production value is equally low. Cinematography is of a low budget quality, that fails to set the tone of the narrative. Sound, editing and the musical soundtrack are passable. Unfortunately, the plot is unable to hold strong – due to shallow characterization and structure. The creative focus seams to have centered on the musical numbers alone – discarding care and attention to technicality and storytelling.