What happens when one bases one’s sense of success and achievement on external praise and material worth? In his independent film “Reunion,” USC alum, writer and director John Kim explores this question.

The film, which will be screened on campus at Norris Cinema Theatre on July 20, follows the story of Guy (Jake Choi), who attempts to change his social status by attending his high school reunion, but stumbles upon a different school’s reunion happening at the same time, where he is mistaken for one of the most successful alums. As Guy interacts with former prom queens and jocks, he learns that they all expect something from him — or the wealthy billionaire they presume he is.

As an Asian American storyteller, Kim said he wanted to confront a type of “social laziness” — what Kim deems as the tendency to gloss over the diverse experiences of Asian Americans and group them as a monolith.

“The idea that [Guy] is mistaken for someone else who happens to be Asian, maybe the only Asian of this school, is something I wanted to explore humorously, and then a little bit more seriously as the story develops,” Kim said.

On May 1, Kim won the Truth Seeker’s Light Award at the Mountain View Community Center in honor of AAPI Month for individuals who challenge harmful stereotypes and expand Asian American representation. 

Kim said that he wanted the film to challenge notions of typical high school tropes. Characters like the class president, football hero or theater kid are not reduced to mere stereotypes; they’re given the depth they deserve. 

“We all have an understanding in whatever group that we’re in that there is a pecking order … It becomes instantly recognizable once you step into a space,” Kim said. “What I wanted to do was take the four or five archetypes that come out of a school environment … and explore the other sides of those characters.”

Kim said another theme he wanted to explore with the film is the tension present in the Asian American experience — the push and pull between assimilating into American culture and also preserving the Asian immigrant experience. 

“Although this story didn’t really begin that way, I think that within ‘Reunion,’ there are traces of that in [Guy’s] character, in that he’s someone who has sort of been left behind within his own experience culturally,” Kim said. 

Ellison, the man who everyone mistakes Guy for, is portrayed by Ludi Lin, known for his roles in “Power Rangers” (2017) and the “Mortal Kombat” film series. Ellison is a successful billionaire who attends the high school reunion under the guise of being a bartender. Out of fear of revisiting his hard past, Ellison hires a doppelganger (Hayden Szeto) to act as him, only Guy shows up.  

Lin said he loves indie films and has been working on them since high school. “Reunion” offered a compelling story to Lin, who had never experienced his own high school reunion. His favorite part of filming was having a discussion with Kim over what makeup to use for Ellison’s disguise. 

“Working on indie films, the fun parts are always first, the support; second, everyone is there for the acting, to be able to tell a story, because nobody’s getting paid a lot; [and third,] the process of contriving a magic trick,” Lin said. “What works, what doesn’t.”

According to Kim, movies such as “The Inspector General” (1949) and plays such as “Tartuffe” influenced the narrative in “Reunion,” as “they describe what it is like to have other people’s hopes and dreams projected onto oneself.”

“[As ‘Reunion’ progresses], you start to realize one by one that [the side characters] need something from this character that they are identifying as important,” Kim said. “Even though from the outside they look successful, these are people in their late 30s and 40s who somehow feel unfulfilled.”

Sebastian Twardosz, another USC alum and the executive producer of “Reunion,” said the filming experience tells another tale: one of resilience. According to Twardosz, the crew began shooting the day the Eaton fires broke out. 

As one of the few films being shot in Los Angeles at that time, “Reunion” offered a safe place for crew members, some of whom lost their homes to the fires, according to Kim.

“To create something during this time was really important for us, and for us to spend a year [in production] … and to come out of it on the other end and be able to show this film to audiences and have them respond has been really gratifying,” Kim said. 

Through humor, Kim said audiences can grapple with the movie’s hard themes in a more palatable manner.

“Audiences have different responses to different characters throughout the story, but I’ve noticed … three or four moments in the film, almost like clockwork, where you can hear the audience laugh and respond, like they want that release,” Kim said. “They have that sense of acknowledgment about what the story is saying about them as well as other people.”

Twardosz said his favorite part of the film was the ending, when every character’s mask falls away, and the truth comes out. 

“[The movie] is about accepting who you are, taking responsibility for who you are, not giving up on your dreams and taking responsibility for doing what you have to do to achieve them,” Twardosz said.

Success, and how people define that, is another concept the film asks audiences to consider, according to Kim. 

“From an Eastern perspective, there is much more of an acknowledgment of trying to look inward, as compared to the Western materialistic society that we live in, where it has to be about external achievement that can be seen and acknowledged and marked on a sheet of paper,” Kim said. “I find it to be quite damaging.” 

Kim said that he hopes audiences learn to stay true to themselves and their dreams after watching “Reunion.” 

“Life is made up of their choices, and regardless of the circumstances that they’re thrown into, they’re still allowed to make those decisions for themselves,” Kim said. “They’re not always the right decisions, but what’s important is for you to acknowledge who you really are and why that has value, why that matters.” 

“Reunion” will be screened at 7 p.m. on July 20 in the Norris Cinema Theatre as part of the School of Cinematic Arts’ “Outside the box [office]” series.