Preparation for the Next Life (2025)

September 5, 2025 (US) • Drama, Romance • 116m

Overview

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.

Director

Bing Liu

Writer

Martyna Majok

Top Billed

Sebiye Behtiyar

Keywords

new york city based on novel or book undocumented immigrant juvenile detention center

Where to watch

Free / Included

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YouTube TV

MGM Plus

Amazon Prime Video with Ads

Rent

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Top Billed Cast

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

Erden Uyghur

Young Aishe

Esther Chen

Min

Celine Cheung

Jessica Ma

Whitney Chi

Chi

Winnie Guo

Guo

Gabriel Furman

Officer Furman

Joshua De Jesus

Officer De Jesus

Divina Ito

Deputy

Jasmin Richardson

Jasmin

Tien-Li Wu

Tien-Li

Lynn Xiong

Myrna Cabello

Myrna

Austin Owens Kelly

Cashier

Nasi Mirsalahuddin

Street Meat Vendor

Doug Yasuda

Doug

Bernadette Quigley

Mrs. Murphy

James DiGiacomo

Jake

Eddie Yu

Polo

Michelle Mao

Angela

Sze Chan

Sassoon

Mingjie Li

Sunnie

Sharon Gee

Zhang Zhuojin

Jack Williams

Johnny H.

Mick Dempsey

McIntyre

Nnamdi Nwosa

Tourist

Way Zen

Herbalist

Eon Song

Plexiglass Woman

Lillian Zhou

Receptinoist

Jing Xu

Lawyer

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

Crew

Sophia Lin

Executive Producer

Adele Romanski

Producer

Bing Liu

Executive Producer

Bing Liu

Director

Dede Gardner

Producer

Jeremy Kleiner

Producer

Mark Ceryak

Producer

Jennifer Venditti

Casting

Thurman Martin III

Visual Effects Producer

Yuval Levy

Visual Effects Supervisor

Ante Cheng

Director of Photography

Anne McCabe

Editor

Kelly McGehee

Production Design

Julia Lallas

Makeup Department Head

Robert Lugo

Hair Department Head

Chris Carroll

First Assistant Director

Brittney Diez

Second Assistant Director

Scott Burik

Stunt Coordinator

Alan Scott Neal

Casting Associate

Brad Pitt

Executive Producer

Barry Jenkins

Producer

Emile Mosseri

Original Music Composer

Keri Langerman

Costume Design

Atticus Lish

Book

Martyna Majok

Screenplay

Susan Jacobs

Music Supervisor

Jeffrey Penman

Co-Producer

Jessica Petruccelli

Set Decoration

Howard Kang

Set Dresser

Chris Carroll

Co-Producer

Atticus Lish

Consulting Producer

Morgan Newell

Unit Production Manager

Sophia Lin

Unit Production Manager

Christopher Place

Stunt Coordinator

Tracey Ruggiero

Stunt Coordinator

Ernie Vigil

Stunt Coordinator

Emily Tung

Stunts

Chris Silcox

Stunts

Derrick Simmons

Stunts

Jimmy P. Wong

Stunts

Marc Terrien

Stunts

Mariusz Kubicki

Stunts

Shane Geraghty

Stunts

Luke Vexler

Stunts

Bryce Burke

Stunts

Ed Duran

Stunts

Abraham Chan

Art Department Coordinator

Graham Wichman

Assistant Set Decoration

Craig Capitelli

Leadman

Anthony Segro

Set Dresser

Courtney Fitzpatrick

Set Dresser

Sean Capitelli

Set Dresser

Allen Ploenes

Set Dresser

Katy Porter

Set Decoration Buyer

Lance Mitchell

Art Direction

Marissa Todd

Assistant Art Director

Jackie Goncalves

Set Decorating Coordinator

Sachi Masuda

Costume Supervisor

Meghann Plummer

Tailor

Arlene Lind-Watson

Ager/Dyer

Alexa De Fazio

Truck Costumer

Laura Vansickle

Set Costumer

Veronica Johnson

Set Costumer

Desaree Oliver-Montenegro

Costume Coordinator

Monica Jacobs

Property Master

Allison O'Shea

Assistant Property Master

Yuko Sobrin

Property Buyer

Charles Zambrano

Key Makeup Artist

Adam Bailey

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Vita Viscuso

Key Hair Stylist

Joel San Juan

"A" Camera Operator

Ema Rees-Scanlon

First Assistant "A" Camera

Jonathan M. Peralta

Second Assistant "B" Camera

Aaron Champagne

Loader

Ariel Watson

Loader

Malika Franklin

Digital Imaging Technician

Zorinah Juan-Lieber

Script Supervisor

Dimitri Kouri

Production Sound Mixer

Dan Green

Boom Operator

Mariana Benevello

Additional Editor

Lindsay Huang

Assistant Editor

Tayler Haynes

Post Production Coordinator

Dowen James

Post Production Assistant

Gene Park

Supervising Sound Editor

Gene Park

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Ric Schnupp

Sound Effects Editor

Ric Schnupp

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Dave Paterson

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Kristin Catuogno

Dialogue Editor

Matt Rigby

Dialogue Editor

Eliza Paley

ADR Editor

Tyler Newhouse

Assistant Sound Editor

Igor Nikolic

Foley Editor

Matthew Haasch

Foley Supervisor

Jay Peck

Foley Artist

Matthew Kay

Foley Mixer

Matthew Atwood

Chief Lighting Technician

Luke Provenzano

Assistant Chief Lighting Technician

Chris Cazavilan

First Company Grip

Richard Auth

Second Company Grip

Kenneth Kildee

Dolly Grip

Hannah Hoban

Second Second Assistant Director

Jon Dowdy

Special Effects Coordinator

Justin Kron

Location Manager

Stephen Donovan

Assistant Location Manager

Ivy Pham

Casting Assistant

Spring Sutter

Production Accountant

Angela Coleman

Payroll Accountant

Jaclyn Martinez

Still Photographer

Richard Hebrank

Construction Coordinator

Alicia Leatherbury-Lamberti

In Memory Of

Teddy Blanks

Title Designer

Margot Bennett

Visual Effects Coordinator

Alanna Levy

Set Decoration Buyer

Blake Hawes

Set Production Assistant

Reviews

Brent Marchant

⭐ 4/10

October 1, 2025

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.

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