Finally Seen

Release poster

***Finally Seen*** is a 2025 American family comedy film directed by Alice Wu and written by Peter Chiarelli and Wu. Loosely based on Kelly Yang's 2019 book of the same name, the story follows a young girl who leaves China to live with her parents and siblings, after ten years apart, and learns about family, friendship, and the power of being finally seen. The film stars Lauren Mei, Constance Wu, Randall Park, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Nick Kishiyama, and Lisa Lu. The film was released in limited theaters on November 21, 2025. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Cartoon Network Studios, and Columbia Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in North America and Sony Pictures Releasing International overseas.

It is Cartoon Network's first film to feature the involvement of another film studio. Development began in late 2020, with Wu signing on to direct in early 2022. Principal photography began on November 29, 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia and Canmore, Alberta. Additional photography and exteriors were filmed in Beijing, China. Near the end of filming, production moved to Los Angeles, California, where photography ended on March 23, 2024. With an estimated production budget of $90–110 million, the film became the first $90-million-budget live-action film to be directed by a Chinese-American woman, as well as the second Cartoon Network film to feature a Chinese lead character after *American Girl: Corinne Tan* (2024). The film received mostly positive reviews from critics for its message, though its pacing and writing received some criticism.

## Plot

When thirteen-year-old Lina Gao steps off the plane in Los Angeles, it’s her first time in America and the first time seeing her parents and her little siblings in ten years. She’s been waiting for this moment every day while she lived with her grandmother in Beijing, getting teased by kids at school who called her “left behind girl.” Finally, her parents are ready for her to join their fabulous life in America. Except, it’s not exactly like in the postcards.

School’s a lot harder than she thought. When she mispronounces some words in English on the first day, she decides she simply won’t talk. Ever again. Her chatty little siblings had no problem with English. And seems to do everything better than Lina, including knowing exactly the way to her parents’ hearts. They live in an apartment, not a house like in Mom’s letters, and they owe a lot of back rent from the pandemic. And Mom’s plan to pay it back sounds more like a hobby than a moneymaker.

As she reckons with her hurt, Lina tries to keep a lid on her feelings, both at home and at school. When her teacher starts facing challenges for her latest book selection, a book that deeply resonates with Lina, it will take all of Lina’s courage and resilience to get over her fear and choose a future where she’s finally seen.

## Cast

* Lauren Mei as Lina Gao, a thirteen-year-old girl who has been living in China with her grandmother.
	+ Audrey Jew portrays Lina as a young girl.
* Constance Wu as Echo Gao, Lina's mother.
* Randall Park as Kim Gao, Lina's father.
* Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Millie Gao, Lina's younger sister.
	+ Pearl Harrold portrays Millie as a two-year-old infant.
* Nick Kishiyama as Baz Gao, Lina's younger brother.
	+ Ethan Serzo portrays Baz as a two-year-old infant.
* Lisa Lu as Lao Lao, Lina's grandmother.
* David Strathairn as Pete McDaniel, a cranky white man who runs an organic farm.
* Winslow Fegley as Finn Walsh, one of the nicer boys in Lina's class.
* Jaden Oehr as Darcy Preston, a friend of Finn's, and one of the nicer boys in Lina's class.
* Ed Helms as Harlan Palmer, the landlord who owns Lina's mother's apartment.
* Kevin G. Schmidt as Max, a birdwatcher.
* Jaime King as Audrey Palmer, Harlan's wife who works at Stanley's Waffle House.
* Brett Gelman as Ralph Castillo, the redneck truck driver.
* Huntly Plantz as Will Hancock, Lina's classmate, and one of her adversaries.
* Melissa Rauch as Ms. Carter, Lina's main teacher who encourages her reading.
* Zulema Nall as Ms. Ortiz, the ELL teacher who works one on one with Lina.
* Elizabeth Bowen as Ms. Hollins, the librarian.
* Noelle E. Parker as Jessica Barlow, Lina's classmate and roommate, and one of her adversaries.
* Katharine Isabelle as Skye Barlow, Jessica's mother.
* Al Madrigal as Ennio Trevisani, an owner of Ennio's Pizza Parlor.

Additional roles include: Steven Yeun as Manchu Hsing, Kim's associate at the organic farm; Kenny Leu as Cheng Yanlin, an organic farmer; Isaiah Mustafa as Sterling, a guy who likes to eat at Ennio's Pizza Parlor; David Koechner as Hewitt, the taxi driver who drives Lina to her mother's apartment; Paul Bae as Cai; Kasey Ryne Mazak as Weimin; Nhi Do as Pan Zhu; Hiro Kanagawa as Yang, an organic farmer; Jayson Li as Huang Xiaodan, an organic farmer; Darren E. Scott as Zou, an organic farmer; Chris Gauthier as Pacific Coast Academy Janitor; Stephen McHattie as Dean Graves, the Dean of PCA; Brian Markinson as Elbert, Lina's mother's neighbor in the apartment; Michael Hayes as a bellhop in Lina's mother's apartment; Laura Mennell as Rebecca Fleming, the girls' dorm advisor; Erica Tremblay as Polly Menzie, one of Lina's roommates, and one of the nicer girls in Lina's class; Gordon Cormier as Cui Zhong, Lina's friend who lives in China; Rickie Wang as Shen, a young organic farmer; Dee Jay Jackson as Bus Driver; Yoshi Sudarso as Oishi Mitsuo, the manager of PCA's restaurant Sushi Express; Jay Brazeau as a news vendor; Matt Frewer as a U.S. Consular Officer; Vincent Cheng as Gong, a senior citizen who lives in a retirement home with Lao Lao and Qiao Qiu; Tae Helgeth as Qiao Qiu, a senior citizen who lives in a retirement home with Lao Lao and Gong; Peter Kelamis as Horace Tucker, Pete's lawyer; Jonah Richardson, Connor Chmara and Dylan Guillemette as Andy Cress, Gene Larson and Milo Poe, Will Hancock's buddies; Rosemary Jeffery as TSA Officer at the LAX airport; Garry Chalk as Judge Dudley; and Patrick Sabongui as Airport Worker.

## Production

### Development

In September 2020, Warner Bros. Pictures retained the film rights for the 2019 book *Finally Seen*, by Kelly Yang. Following the financial success of Jon M. Chu's *Crazy Rich Asians* (2018), Warner Bros. hired Pete Chiarelli to write the screenplay for Cary Granat and his new Bedrock Studios. Granat had previously worked with Warner Bros. on the *Journey to the Center of the Earth*. The project's budget was slated to be $35 million.

However, *Finally Seen* was part of a new BC Film Commission tax credit program, which offset production costs considerably.

On January 3, 2022, it was reported that Alice Wu had been offered the job of directing the film, and she was confirmed to direct later that same month. She became the first Chinese-American woman to direct a live-action film with a production budget of more than $90 million. The decision received positive sentiments in the media industry. Constance Wu was happy to see this because Wu herself broke barriers for nonwhite people in the film industry. Warner Bros., along with their subsidiary Cartoon Network Studios, offered to produce as long as the director found two studios that were willing to co-produce the film: Wu agreed and negotiated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Sony's Columbia Pictures to co-finance and distribute the film internationally by the end of October.

### Casting

On February 21, 2023, *Variety* reported that Constance Wu began final negotiations to join the film to play Echo Gao, Lina's mother. In April 2023, Randall Park and David Strathairn were reported to be in talks to join the film, with Park to play Kim Gao, Lina's father, and Strathairn to play the cranky white man Pete. On April 11, 2023, Lauren Mei was cast in the lead role of Lina Gao, a thirteen-year-old girl who has been living in China with her grandmother.

In May 2023, Madeleine Yuna Voyles and Nick Kishiyama were cast as Lina's siblings, Millie and Baz Gao. On May 30, 2023, additional cast announcements included Lisa Lu as Lao Lao, Winslow Fegley as Finn Walsh, Jaden Oehr as Darcy Preston, and Huntly Plantz as Will Hancock, along with Melissa Rauch, Zulema Nall and Elizabeth Bowen. Later, Noelle E. Parker joined the cast to play Jessica Barlow. The film producers are Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and John G. Scotti.

### Filming

Principal photography on the film began November 29, 2023, in Vancouver, British Columbia and Canmore, Alberta. Vanja Černjul was the film's cinematographer, Nelson Coates was production designer, Mary E. Vogt was costume designer, and Jim Rygiel was the film's visual effects supervisor. During production, Wu asked Rygiel to be as flexible as possible on visual effects sequences to enable her to make changes and incorporate new ideas during shooting.

Filming for *Finally Seen* took place in multiple locations including Richmond, British Columbia, at the Vancouver's Chinatown neighborhood, which was transformed into a city block in Beijing, China, and Canmore, Alberta, at the Spring Creek Mountain Village neighborhood, which was transformed into the China Snow Town in Hailin, China, starting December 27, 2023. Additional photography and exteriors were filmed in Beijing, China.

After Vancouver and Canmore, production moved to Los Angeles, California for two weeks. During the last two weeks of March 2024, filming locations for *Finally Seen* were in the cities of Santa Monica, Malibu and Pasadena. Actors and crew were in Malibu for two weeks to shoot scenes on-location at Pepperdine University (as Pacific Coast Academy). Filming wrapped up in Los Angeles, California after two weeks.

### Visual effects

The visual effects were primarily provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Digital Domain and Hydraulx.

## Music

The music was composed by Nathan Wang. The film marked Wang's second collaboration with Cartoon Network. An exclusive track was also released by Tia Ray and Eric Nam titled "Rise" which plays in the film's end credits. The soundtrack was released digitally on November 21, 2025, by WaterTower Music.

## Release

### Theatrical limited release

*Finally Seen* was released in limited theaters on November 21, 2025 by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States and Sony Pictures Releasing International internationally, followed by a video-on-demand release on December 9.

## Reception

### Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 92% based on 12 reviews with an average rating of 7.40/10. Courtney Howard from *Variety* gave the film a mostly positive review. She praised the film for "[retaining] its book's lively, spirited drive centered on family, friendship, and the power of being finally seen," though was critical of some plot aspects. Beatrice Loayza of *The New York Times* gave an overall mixed review of the film, mainly criticizing the storyline; she compared some plot points to *American Girl: Corinne Tan*, which was released last year. But overall, Loayza said, "...the film's messaging about inclusion and diversity, and the need for a new generation to band together against racial discrimination isn't the worst thing."

## Trivia

* Lauren Mei (*Summer Camp Island*), Randall Park (*Robot Chicken*, *Hot Streets*, *Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart*, *Adventure Time: Distant Lands*, *Tuca & Bertie* and *Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai*), Nick Kishiyama (*Infinity Train* and *Bugs Bunny Builders*), Kevin G. Schmidt (*Unnatural History*), Jaime King (*Star Wars: The Clone Wars* and *Robot Chicken*), Brett Gelman (*Aqua Teen Hunger Force*, *Adventure Time*, *Clarence* and *Mr. Pickles*), Steven Yeun (*Robot Chicken*, *Final Space* and *Tuca & Bertie*), Isaiah Mustafa (*Robot Chicken*), David Koechner (*Regular Show* and *Close Enough*), Nhi Do (*Level Up*), Hiro Kanagawa (*Tower Prep*), Chris Gauthier (*Level Up*), Peter Kelamis (*Ed, Edd n Eddy*, *The Cramp Twins*, *Baby Looney Tunes*, *Krypto the Superdog* and *Tom and Jerry Tales*), Jay Brazeau (*Tower Prep* and *Level Up*), Garry Chalk (*¡Mucha Lucha!*, *Tom and Jerry Tales*, *Transformers: Cybertron*, *Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins* and *Ninjago*) and Patrick Sabongui (*Level Up*) have all starred in other Cartoon Network projects.
* This is composer Nathan Wang's second collaboration with Cartoon Network Studios.
* This movie was originally scripted with Lina and her friends as ten-year-olds. Writer and director Alice Wu changed them to boarding school students for Lauren Mei, who Wu had seen in Family Mash-Up (2024). Wu asked "Can Lauren Mei play a 13-year-old?"
* The second collaboration between Randall Park, Constance Wu, and Brett Gelman following Fresh Off the Boat (2015).
* This is Kevin G. Schmidt's first involvement with Cartoon Network since *Unnatural History*.
* This is the first Cartoon Network Studios film to be produced in 2.39:1 (21:9) aspect ratio, unlike the previous films that were produced in 1.85:1 (16:9) aspect ratio.
* Randall Park (Kim Gao) and Brett Gelman (Ralph Castillo) previously worked together on Strays (2023).
* This is the first film that Columbia Pictures and Cartoon Network Studios made with Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.
* Some of the actors chosen to be newscasters (such as Mi-Jung Lee and Lynn Colliar) for bit parts in the movie, are newscasters in the Vancouver media.
* Constance Wu, Winslow Fegley and Brett Gelman appeared in Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022).

## Transcripts

### Trailer transcripts

*Main article: Finally Seen/Trailer transcripts*