In a utopian near future where crying has ceased to exist, an emotional young woman — the only person who can still shed tears — teams up with her protective older sister on a journey into the underground world of weeping.

Director Biography - Kim Xiong

Kim Xiong is a Hmong-American Director, Writer, and Producer born and raised in Fresno, California. She moved to Los Angeles for school where she was a member of LCC Theatre Company, a UCLA Asian American theatre and improv group. She currently works at Riot Games. CRYBABY is her directorial debut.

Director Statement

CRYBABY is a playful exploration of emotional repression, set in a utopian future where tears have mysteriously vanished. At its heart is a thorny sisterhood: an older sibling who's taken on the role of reluctant parent, and a younger one whose rare “affliction”, the ability to cry, has made her the last emotional being on Earth. Their dynamic, tangled in resentment, obligation, and fierce love, propels them through underground crying clubs, weeping cults, and a surreal journey toward connection.

This film was born from my own complicated relationship with vulnerability. As the eldest daughter of refugees and older sister to four brothers, I grew up with a heavy sense of responsibility. There wasn’t much space to put myself first, let alone feel. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been trying to find that lost part of myself, to reconnect with my inner crybaby. And when I found her, I had to unlearn the shame around crying, and start believing that there is strength in feeling deeply.

In a world where women who cry are called unstable and men who cry are seen as weak, I imagined a society that just got rid of crying altogether. But in doing so, tears became sacred. Even coveted. And because emotional repression is both tragic and a little ridiculous, I leaned into comedy. The script unfolds like a string of surreal sketch moments, each one introducing a new absurd logic or offbeat character. Through the ridiculousness, we ask: what were we so afraid to feel?

Music also became a language for the things our characters can’t say aloud. Throughout the score, we layered voices and scattered cries giving sound to the character’s inner voice. Even in a world without tears, emotion finds a way to seep through the cracks.

This film took a year to make, but it’s been a decade in the making. From late-night brainstorms with college friends to hallway tears in corporate offices, CRYBABY is the culmination of years of emotion, repression, and (finally) release. I’m so grateful to the friends, collaborators, and supporters who helped bring this passion project to life.

CRYBABY is a heartfelt letter to older siblings, to little ones, to best friends, to exhausted parents, to anyone who’s ever carried too much or felt too deeply. I hope it makes you laugh. I hope it makes you feel something. And maybe, just maybe, it makes you tear up.