Reviews
CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

March 12, 2025
7.0
This is a tough film to watch, but it’s worth it. “Papa” (Ching-wan Lau) runs a bustling café and we first meet him looking forlornly at his apartment from the street outside. It transpires that there has been a double-murder and that his wife and daughter have been stabbed to death by their son. The young lad has openly admitted the crime and is soon committed for psychiatric care as schizophrenia is suspected. Over the next two hours we learn a bit about the family dynamic and each character has their moment in the sun to explain just who they are and how they fit into this tight and typically loving and bickering family unit. Of course, there are signs that “Ming” (Dylan So) has some sort of mental illness, but like any family they are confident that with love and care they can manage this, and for the most part the teenager appears to thrive with his mum (Kam Yin) and lively sister “Yan” (Lainey Hung). What comes across strongly here are the older man’s senses of grief and disbelief, yes - but also of his guilt at not being there to stop the attack, or even to succumb to it; and there is also a palpable sense of forgiveness emanating from a man who ought to hate his son deeply but who doesn’t. As we delve deeper into the story, it’s left up to us to form our opinions about what may or not have been warning signs or triggers as well as appreciating just how difficult it was for this couple running a 24/7 business that left them emotionally drained and sleep deprived at the best of times. It’s a film about coping, prioritising and doing the best possible and just like everyone else, hoping that we can be left to cruise along undisturbed by trauma - large or small. It’s not a doom-laden exercise, there is a fair degree of light-heartedness and a great deal of eating (well it’s more like shovelling, really) has there’s even a mother-in-law joke! Now there are some quirks in this production that do occasionally make you think that the director wasn’t paying enough attention and as with anything trying to weave timelines and characters together, the continuity is not the best - but if you take a wide vision view of just how a tightly-knit family deals with life, love, disaster and possibly forgiveness then this is a poignant film to watch with solid efforts from both Ching-wan Lau and from a less prominent, but still effective, Dylan So.

Recommendation Movies

7.5
Action
View
7.5
Thunderbolts*
Thunderbolts*2025
0
Mystery
View
0
Mad of Madness
Mad of Madness2025
9
Comedy
View
9
The Wedding Banquet
The Wedding Banquet2025
7.8
Adventure
View
7.8
Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness
Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness2015
4.3
Horror
View
4.3
2-Headed Shark Attack
2-Headed Shark Attack2012
7.1
Drama
View
7.1
Scum
Scum1979
6.4
Western
View
6.4
Cat Ballou
Cat Ballou1965
10
Animation
View
10
What's New, Scooby-Doo? Vol. 7: Ready to Scare
What's New, Scooby-Doo? Vol. 7: Ready to Scare2006
6
Animation
View
6
The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze
The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze2001
5.9
Horror
View
5.9
Superdeep
Superdeep2020
7.6
Animation
View
7.6
Digimon Adventure
Digimon Adventure1999
5.9
Family
View
5.9
3 Men and a Little Lady
3 Men and a Little Lady1990
7.3
History
View
7.3
'o Re
'o Re1989
7.2
Comedy
View
7.2
Windstruck
Windstruck2004
6.2
Drama
View
6.2
I'll See You in My Dreams
I'll See You in My Dreams2015
7.1
Live Spectacle NARUTO ~Song of the Akatsuki~
Live Spectacle NARUTO ~Song of the Akatsuki~2021
5.9
Horror
View
5.9
Saw 3D
Saw 3D2010
6.1
Family
View
6.1
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True2002
6.3
Action
View
6.3
F/X2
F/X21991
7.6
Drama
View
7.6
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire1951
© 2025 MoovieTime. All rights reserved.Made with Nuxt