Watched at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
I really wanted to like this one.
There is no doubt Shu Qi has a vision to explore about the cycle of violence, child abuse and the toughness growing up. The beautiful camerawork and production designs establishes the tone and time setting perfectly. Unfortunately, this is an example of just because they are a talented actor doesn't mean necessarily they are a good filmmaker.
Throughout, the writing explores these themes but unfortunately, they feel hallow and you never really have a sense of connection nor realism with the characters and emotional moments. Many of the times the writing and characters feel underdeveloped and cheesy, to the point it was very difficult to connect or believe a single word. Alongside with some decent music choices and color presentation, Qi kind of takes too much influences from other well known New Wave Taiwanese filmmakers and at times, it feels like she was trying to recapture those days but it comes off as not creative.
The performances are a mix bag as the child actor was solid but the adult performances were pretty bad. Alongside with some of the dialogue feeling superficial and fake. The worst aspects are the pacing and structures, the way it is paced and explored feels aimless and unbalanced. As if certain moments feel like nothing was happening and taking way too long to get to the point of its message.
At the end, there is no doubt that Qi wanted to make a good movie and I do applaud her for trying, but it never flows through the hook.
