Dear Ex · reception & legacy
2018 · Mag Hsu
How Dear Ex has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A sleeper hit at home — it swept the 2018 Taipei Film Festival and took three Golden Horse Awards — then found a global second life when Netflix streamed it worldwide in February 2019, turning a local Taiwanese dramedy into an international word-of-mouth discovery.
What's debated
The title's question (the Chinese original literally asks 'Who loved him first?') is the debate baked in: viewers still argue over which of its rival grievers actually deserves their sympathy.
Its footprint
It landed in Taiwanese theatres in the thick of the island's same-sex marriage referendum fight, months before Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise it — so the film became inseparable from that national moment.
Where it stands
A staple of modern queer East Asian cinema lists and a quiet Letterboxd favourite — the Taiwanese film people press on friends with 'trust me, just watch it.'