It starts with a language class. Journeys of self-discovery often start with small steps. In the case of Feng Xia (Joan Chen), it begins when her daughter Joy (Pei Yao Xu), about to graduate high school and leave the nest, points out that she won’t be around to translate forever. Feng Xia has been a mother to Joy and her brother, Dong Dong (Anzhe Zhang), and a housewife to her husband, Jun (John Xu), since they emigrated to Montreal some 14 years ago. In all that time, dutifully tending to her family and helping in the convenience store Jun owns, she has never done anything strictly for herself. Until she takes a language class. This is the beginning of Montreal, My Beautiful (Montreal, ma belle).
This class gives her both the tools and the gumption to seize a little independence. There are people in the class from all around the world, but Feng Xia becomes interested in Joseph (Zion-Luna Ribeaux Valdès), a young man who moved to the city for love. Spurred by his confidence to live in public as a gay man, Feng Xia begins to explore a side of herself she has repressed since childhood, and eventually meets Camille (Charlotte Aubin), with whom she begins an affair.
Link: https://www.northernreel.ca/2026/03/montreal-my-beautiful-is-a-beautiful-film/
‘Montreal, My Beautiful’ Is a Beautiful Film About Learning to Live Life Unencumbered | Northern Reel
