A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The Chinese government's 'one family/one child' policy which began in 1979 had a serious unintended consequence. Because families were told they could only have one child, many families began abandoning their girls. After all, they reasoned, families NEED a boy--they don't need girls (a similar problem has occurred in India, by the way). But, what can they do with all these little girls? Well, there were lots of families around the world who were eager to adopt many of them. This film is about five Chinese girls who were adopted by Americans and chronicles their lives and struggles. It brings up many interesting topics, such as the desire by some to try to locate their birth parents, fitting in with American and Chinese culture and many others. All this is quite interesting--and you really found yourself feeling for the girls. Because of this, a few times I could feel a few tears welling up--so be sure to have some Kleenex handy.By the way, if you do see the film, you be left wondering a few things, such as how is the girl with cerebral palsy doing today as well as how did the one family have four kids when the government ordered that you could only have one. Thought-provoking, that's for sure.

Having read quite a few reviews describing this film as having a limited audience, I would have to agree. I too have a daughter from China, so I've been following and waiting for the film to come out for some time. However, as a mom to a Chinese girl, this was a very moving film. I highly recommend this to all who have trans-racial adopted children as some of these issues are endemic to adoption in general and a sense of identity some of these girls feel left "in between". As another reader noted, we are left a bit in want for a follow-up on how someone feels when they find their birth family. How do you deal with it when the birth family shows you love now when they left you then? Even if not both parents wanted this separation. How does the adopted mother feel? Otherwise, a very good film. I'd like to hear from people NOT involved in adoption to see what they saw in the movie. And coincidentally, my daughter was also from Hunan thus I went to the same center to get my daughter, so that was a personally emotional moment for me. The girls are all lovely and accomplished, intelligent teenagers.

In 2005, my wife and I adopted our daughter from Hunan, China. We were (and are) perfectly aware that there would be a lot of questions for her (and us) to deal with as the years went by. Right now, at age 8, our daughter's a pretty typical Canadian girl who knows that she was born in China and left outside a school, sent to an orphanage, raised by a foster family and then adopted by us. She's not expressed great interest in China, but we're not going to be surprised if one day she does."Somewhere Between" was a documentary that we had to watch. It traces the journey of several now teenaged girls born in China but adopted by Americans and raised in the United States. For us, there are some tug at your heart strings moments - especially the shot of the "adoption room" in Changsha, Hunan, where we first held our little girl. The girls whose stories are being told are remarkably eloquent about their experience and about the challenge of being in some ways torn between two worlds - with Chinese skin but American culture. They respond in different ways to this, and it's interesting to watch. The film stresses the importance of having connections with other Chinese adoptees,and pulls no punches about the presence of racism (even sometimes benign racism) in society.Most interesting is the story of Haley, who returns to China with her adoptive parents and - defying the odds - manages to track down her birth family. The reunion was touching, but it left me with a lot of questions, especially wondering where the relationship goes from there? It was fascinating that, in her case at least, her father wanted to keep her and it was her mother who actually abandoned her. That's the reverse of what my perception of the situation is. In the midst of the film there are questions raised about whether international adoption should be allowed. I have no answer for that; I'm simply grateful to have my daughter.This is what I would describe as a "niche" film. It has a definite audience - the Chinese adoption community, if I can refer to myself and others who have adopted from or who have been adopted from China, and their friends/family. Outside that community, this might be of limited appeal. (8/10)

What is it like to be a little girl, flown out of China with some sense of past home, place and life, then adopted and raised as an American in a secure home with love and good parenting? This skillfully-made documentary puts you in the shoes--no, the skins--of four young women who, in the words of one, are like bananas, yellow outside and white inside. They are all bright, well-educated, hard-working, and grounded, but something is still missing in their lives.Just what should China mean to them? Is it the tiny but tantalizing possibility of finding a birth parent, with the surprises that might bring--a story that has been told many times? Is it the sense of a place where they visibly fit in? Is it the need to share their feelings with other kids like themselves? And what of the lingering feeling that, before they were adopted, they were rejected? You will experience all these things alongside these young women, as they travel to Europe and China, grow, and open up like flowers. Is it enough to feel Chinese, or must she feel like a Dai (minority) person because she looks like one? Where does that lead her? What does it feel like to be in the stark orphanage that she dimly recalls? And what does she feel when she sees a bright little girl like she was, but trapped in a box in that orphanage because of a disability that could be treated?I agree with Los Angeles Times reviewer Kenneth Turan, whose professional review I commend to you, that only a stone would not be moved by this film.