Orion Pictures
PASTEL
Plan B Entertainment
Not part of a collection.
Preparation for the Next Life
Love isn’t an escape, it’s a reason to keep going.
Aishe, a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown’s underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner, a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discover the possibility of a better life together than the ones they believed they were destined to live alone.
- Original title
- Preparation for the Next Life
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- $43,421
Brent Marchant
Oct 1, 2025 · via TMDB
An essential element of any love story is chemistry between the lead characters, even if it takes an unconventional form. Regrettably, however, that’s exactly what’s missing in director Bing Liu’s debut narrative feature, based on the novel by Atticus Lish. Told in the form of a narrated letter/journal entry to her late film, the film chronicles the unlikely love story of Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar), an ambitious, sharp-witted twentysomething Uyghur woman who illegally immigrates to the US, and Skinner (Fred Hechinger), a troubled young American soldier who just returned stateside after three tours of duty in the Middle East and is now apparently unsuccessfully battling PTSD. They meet by chance in New York, where Aishe toils to make ends meet working long hours in a Chinatown restaurant and Skinner tries to sort out his life and his mental state. Together they embark on a rollercoaster romance with a series of breakups and reconciliations as Aishe tries to decide on marriage or a life of solitude, peace of mind and independence, all the while staying ahead of immigration authorities, and Skinner seeks to find a stable existence that may or may not involve the love of his life, depending on his mood, focus and ever-changing inclinations for a steady, traditional relationship. To be honest, the basic premise behind this release is inherently something of a stretch, made worse by a narrative that becomes meandering and redundant after a time. But the bigger issue here is that I never bought the sincerity of the connection between the protagonists, right from the moment they met and at virtually every turn during the course of their on-again/off-again partnership. The reason? Despite her inexperience with romance, Aishe seems far too smart and determined to chart the course of her life to put up with Skinner’s unpredictability and capriciousness. In fact, after their first emotionally tense confrontation, I was astounded by their subsequent reconciliation, given that she seems like the type who would have walked away and not looked back without a second thought. Granted, an immigration-driven marriage might resolve some of the issues of her legal status in the US, but with Skinner? It’s true that she has an apparently deep sense of compassion for his condition, but, being the fiercely headstrong individual that she is, I can’t see that empathy being enough in itself to make her want to stay with him on a long-term basis. What’s more, Aishe’s back story often feels incomplete, and Skinner’s is even more nonexistent, an aspect of the story that makes their actions and responses all the more perplexing at times. In all, this offering is half-baked and implausible across the board, making for a screen romance that’s unengaging and unrealistic, one not worth the time.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Sebiye Behtiyar
Aishe
Fred Hechinger
Skinner
Landyn Lu
Munro
Ella Rouwen Chen
Chen
B. Todd Johnston
Jim
Maxwell Almono
Luis
Justin Cotta
Cop (Times Square)
Alicher Adill
Aziz
Dralla Aierken
Arzu
Esther Chen
Min
Celine Cheung
Yi
Jessica Ma
Ma
Gabriel Furman
Officer Furman
Joshua De Jesus
Officer De Jesus
Divina Ito
Deputy
Jasmin Richardson
Jasmin
Tien-Li Wu
Tien-Li
Lynn Xiong
Yu
Myrna Cabello
Myrna
Austin Owens Kelly
Cashier
Doug Yasuda
Doug
Bernadette Quigley
Mrs. Murphy
James DiGiacomo
Jake
Eddie Yu
Polo
Michelle Mao
Angela
Sharon Gee
Zhang Zhuojin
Lillian Zhou
Receptinoist
TJ Lee
Clerk
Fady Kerko
Mullah
Clem Cheung
Kitchen Boss
Bret Bailey
Immigration Judge
John Maria Gutierrez
Gold Tooth
Matt Meinsen
Bailiff
Imaan Rizwan
Colorful Headscarf Woman
Teddy Blanks
Title Designer
Ante Cheng
Director of Photography
Christopher Place
Stunt Coordinator
Ernie Vigil
Stunt Coordinator
Scott Burik
Stunt Coordinator
Tracey Ruggiero
Stunt Coordinator
Bryce Burke
Stunts
Chris Silcox
Stunts
Derrick Simmons
Stunts
Ed Duran
Stunts
Emily Tung
Stunts
Mariusz Kubicki
Stunts
Shane Geraghty
Stunts
Bing Liu
Director
Jennifer Venditti
Casting
Bing Liu
Executive Producer
Brad Pitt
Executive Producer
Sophia Lin
Executive Producer
Adele Romanski
Producer
Barry Jenkins
Producer
Dede Gardner
Producer
Jeremy Kleiner
Producer
Mark Ceryak
Producer
Susan Jacobs
Music Supervisor
Emile Mosseri
Original Music Composer
Ric Schnupp
Sound Effects Editor
Ric Schnupp
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Thurman Martin III
Visual Effects Producer
Martyna Majok
Screenplay
Anniversary
Impure Blood
Adventures of Lazare
Forrest Gump
Léon: The Professional
Apocalypse Now
Taxi Driver
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Metropolis
Freedom Writers
Rebecca
Stand by Me
All Quiet on the Western Front
Anatomy of a Murder
A Moon in the Ordinary
If I Could Marry the Minister
Fried Green Tomatoes
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Jules and Jim
Bis dass das Geld euch scheidet…
The Name of the Rose
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
As Good as It Gets
The Time Machine
Jackie Brown
Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes
The Blue Angel
Pocketful of Miracles
The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity
The Wedding Banquet
Shoot the Piano Player
The Outsiders
Teinen Oyaji Kaizou Keikaku
Orphan of Lowood
People Don’t Know Everything
State of Grace
La Chinoise
Just Like Heaven
Orlando
The Wanderers
Hard Miles
King Kong
The Story of Adèle H.
A Lot Like Love
Cop Land
Oliver Twist
The Silent Ocean
The Lost World
A Prayer Before Dawn
About a Boy
Around the World in 80 Days
The Three Musketeers
We Own the Night
Absolute Power
The Bricklayers
24 Hours with Gaspar
1984
The Perfect Storm
The Bookshop
Borstal
Defiance
Derailed
Storm over Tjurö
Tragic Vacation
Heart o' the Hills
Twilight
Disclosure
Getting Go: The Go Doc Project
For Love or Money
Addicted to Love
Fallen Angels Paradise
Sin
September Sky
People in the Summer Night
A Round Trip to Love
The Lost Battalion
B. Monkey
Alfie
The Out-of-Towners
The Child in Time
Milka: A Film About Taboos
The Heartbreak Kid
Little Girl Fly Away
Return to Montauk
Freejack
Ask the Dust
No Other Love
Jarrapellejos
A Round Trip to Love 2
Swindle
The Horse That Cried
2 Women
Father Sergius
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas
The Salt Between Us
Last Night in Montreal
Detransition, Baby
Der fahrende Schüler bannt den Teufel
Bratři Karamazovi
Rajamaa
Call Me by Your Name
My Policeman
My Fault: London
Sing Sing
25th Hour
Bad Boys
Kiss of the Spider Woman
A Journal for Jordan
Two Lovers
If Beale Street Could Talk
Untamed Heart
On the Edge
The Prince of Tides
G
Nowhere to Run
Time Is Up
The Immigrant
Fire with Fire
Sylvie's Love
Asphalt City
Love Me Love Me
China Girl
London
Wander Darkly
Valley of the Dolls
The Nines
See You Soon
Sep 5, 2025
Nov 19, 2025
MGM+
Jan 19, 2026
Prime Video
