Preparation for the Next Life

Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar) is a Uyghur woman who’s worked tirelessly to get to New York, where she hopes to start the next chapter in a better life for herself. There, she meets a young veteran named Skinner (Fred Hechinger) and the pair quickly strike up a relationship. However, with Aishe struggling to earn money as an undocumented immigrant while Skinner battles with PTSD, the bright future Aishe imagined begins to look like a distant dream. With Preparation for the Next Life, director Bing Liu (Minding The Gap) creates a sombre portrait of life and all its chaotic messiness.

The film begins with Aishe narrating her life in Uyghur, explaining the close relationship she had with her now-deceased father and her militaristic determination to stay strong and accomplish her goals. A brief montage of her life ends with her arrival in New York, where she encounters Skinner soon after. Although she’s initially uninterested in his advances, she sees his own strength as something that connects them. As a metaphor, two marginalised characters uniting through their own willpower is a fascinating angle to explore their relationship. However, scenes where they squeeze each other’s biceps after doing push-ups come across as more awkward than endearing. The romantic chemistry isn’t there, which makes it harder to buy into their love story.

Outside of the central romance, Liu handles the thematic core of the script wonderfully. Aishe is stuck in a world of uncertainty in which her undocumented status makes it difficult for her to find work, and she could be arrested at any moment. Meanwhile, Skinner has essentially been left behind by society. With no employment prospects or insurance, the little medication he has left is on the brink of running out. Complicating matters further is the cultural gulf that lies between them, which makes it hard for them to understand each other, something echoed in Aishe’s ongoing narration in Uyghur. Both Behtiyar and Hechinger give strong performances here, with each actor radiating a quiet sadness that seeps into the film’s atmosphere.

Despite the romance’s rocky start, Preparation for the Next Life evolves into an affecting story of two lost souls navigating their lives’ challenges. 

Andrew Murray

Preparation for the Next Life is released nationwide on 12^th December 2025.

Watch the trailer for Preparation for the Next Life here: