A robot manicurist meets the human hands it's built to erase.
Tasked with installing self-service manicure stations at a nail salon, an automation technician meets a Vietnamese American nail tech whose job he is there to replace.
Acting
Nicholson's restrained warmth against Bui's guarded resilience.
Direction
Luu siblings find entire worlds in a fluorescent salon.
Writing
Dialogue that says everything through what goes unsaid.
Director
Kevin Luu
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Nail salons represent a specific economic survival strategy for Vietnamese refugees post-1975; the film weaponizes that history against automation's 'progress' narrative.
The 17-minute runtime mirrors David's installation window—artificial urgency forcing compressed human connection that corporate time never actually allows.
US
