No Tender Land

Sixteen-year-old Taozi moves with her family to California, settling into her father’s home, where he has already lived for five years. While waiting for her busy mother’s arrival, Taozi finds that years of separation have turned her father into a familiar stranger. When she discovers a romantic gift in his car meant for another woman, her sense of family begins to collapse.

On her birthday, Taozi tries to recover comforting memories but encounters only her father’s neglect and the devastating news of her parents’ divorce. That night, she runs away to the beach. Gazing at an ocean that feels both familiar and foreign, she decides to let the sea breeze carry away the past and embrace a new beginning.