The Taiwan Oyster

Disguised as a drunken cartwheel through expat paradise, Mark Jarrett’s striking feature juggles questions of mortality along its rowdy cross-country path.

Mark Jarrett’s amiable road picture has a morbid whimsy and a coming-of-age hook.

Part romance, existential meditation and dark comedy, the film, like its perplexed characters, isn’t always certain of what it wants to be. Yet in the end it does pretty well for itself, despite those self-doubts.

The Taiwan Oyster manages to be consistently engaging despite its flaws.