I spent my afternoon sitting at a quiet, dimly lit corner to watch this movie, and by the end of it I was truly touched by the deep, profound story that this movie portrays.
Having received 11 nominations in the 56th Golden Horse Awards and winning 5 of them, with one being 'Best Film', I know I already have high expectations the moment I clicked into the movie, and boy did the movie not disappoint me. It totally threw me into a whirlwind of emotions. :")
Story and acting wise, I have almost nothing to pick on. The actors were brilliant in their portrayal and well, my ratings are clear enough, and you can watch and judge it for yourself.
Rather, I would like to bring up some themes that lingered in my mind after I've watched the movie.
[We've all been hurt before, and that's how we can become each other's sun.]
[A Sun, A Son]
The title of this movie holds two meanings, 'A Sun' and 'A Son'. What happens when a family is thrown into darkness when the 'sun' of the family is no longer there? What happens to the family when A-Ho has to move out of the darkness, what hope can he, or rather, they, cling onto?
This is a movie that speaks about relationships within a family: mother and son, father and son, elder and younger sibling, and many many more. But ultimately, this movie explores what it means to be a family, and to be yourself.
Also, note the use of the article 'a' for the title of the movie. Why is it 'a' and not 'the'? How does the difference in definiteness of these two articles change the meaning of this movie?
[Light, Darkness, or Both]
In this movie we have characters who stand out and thrive in the world brightly lit up by the sun. However, some recede into the darkness where they seek comfort and find out their own meaning and interpretation of what they're worth. But how about both? How does having both light and darkness in a character's life influence him in any way?
[Expectations and Hope]
For someone who has been in the light all along, how does he feel about it? How do societal and familial expectations weigh down on such a person? How does he find shade to rest and take a breather?
Whereas, for someone who was always in the darkness, will he be able to find his own ray of sunlight and move into a world where the sun shines brightly upon him and his future? Over here, how does societal and familial expectations differ from that in the aforementioned case?
[The Sun (literally)]
The weather changes throughout the movie helps portray the different settings and atmosphere for each character's feelings, emotions and state of mind. And I must say, the appearance of the sun (or the lack of it), as well as the amount of sunlight shining upon a character, plays a huge part in helping viewers understand what state of mind the characters are in. The visual significance of these scenes are enough in showing us the characters' emotions even without them having to portray them. That's how powerful and well-thought-out the cinematography is in this movie.
[Seize the day. Decide your path.]
This is a recurring slogan in the movie, and we can begin to wonder why it's mentioned in the first place (and many times after) and also how much it weighs on the different people receiving this piece of advice.
Well, that's all I can offer for some thinking after the movie ends. Do watch the movie, you'll not regret it ;)
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This review may contain spoilers
Will these words even be enough?
What collection of carefully-picked written words do I need to use to justify the profound soul-wrenching beauty of this film? Will words even be enough?A Sun is one of those films where a mere retell of its plot would simply not be enough to capture its profound and soul-wrenching story. It’s one of those films that you have to witness and experience to fully appreciate and understand the story it is trying to tell its audience.
There are only a few films that rendered me at a loss for words after watching them and this is certainly one of those films. Honestly, I’m afraid of writing a review for this film because I do know that this time my written words would not be able to give the justice this film certainly deserves.
In simple words, this film is an intimate story about a family in the aftermath of a tragedy after a previous misfortune. If you read that simple summary, you will probably think this is one of those ordinary tales about families and tragedies. In a way, you’re right-- it is indeed ordinary, but also in a number of other ways, you’re greatly mistaken to assume that this is just another ordinary tale of a family.
What is so remarkable about this film is its ability to tell a multitude of things in too little of everything. The relationship between the two brothers was shown in just two separate brief scenes, one of which is just a narrated story of the elder brother’s visit to the youngest. Yet despite their little interactions in this film, both scenes already provided enough to paint a picture in your head of what could have been the dynamics between the two brothers.
On the other hand, the relationship between the husband and wife was marked with only dialogues about their sons and very little of what could have hinted their relationship was like outside of being parents to their children. The gap between them created by the lack of any details about their personal relationship was remedied by the actors' stellar portrayal of their characters. It was their silent moments, the quiet comfort between them, and their distant yet intimate connection with each other that bridge this gap.
Overall, A Sun is a painful, yet beautiful and still hopeful story of an ordinary family with very complex characters that you would end up caring for as you go along with the film. All the actors nailed their respective roles. They were simply perfect. The original score is perfect too. It was deeply moving and impactful without being too overpowering. It was simply a great mix of everything.
Watch it, it’s totally worth your time. Your 2 and a half hours will surely not be put to waste.
[SPOILER AHEAD! Do not read after this if you don’t want to be spoiled. Take my word, if ever you plan to watch this movie, stop reading at this point because you will appreciate the story more without knowing what is written below.]
I have read a number of people asking why the elder brother did what he did and how they could not simply understand his reasons. This questioning alone is a good example of how often signs and causes of depression are often missed by even the closest person to the one depressed. It tells how a person’s facade is not everything and how one carry oneself in front of the others can be very deceiving and is not in any way a good indicator of what lies beneath one’s exterior.
I was also very shocked with what happened to A-Hao. It was only after what he did that I was able to fully understand his story of the kids playing hide-and-seek.
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This review may contain spoilers
What does it mean to feel?
I honestly think that the pace of this movie is slow. But you have to ride with its slow pace, if not, its soul won't open up. Skipping even a second of it makes huge of a difference. Scenes from the movie were genuine enough to seize the status of many ordinary families. Whilst watching the funeral scene, I felt I was forcing myself to cry when my eyes had gone dry. This film made me feel desolate just as A Ho felt apathetic before he had thrown a fit. A Ho did not shed a single tear for the death of his brother. For the family, A Ho was nothing but a remnant that cannot even be in comparison with his older brother A Hao. Which made sense for A Ho's rigidness. His presence was toned down after A Hao gained all the expectations of their parents.The Chen parents' reactions state their partiality towards the kid, creating a gap between each of them. A hard-to-swallow fact, "Both of them liked one better than the other". A Hao was that 'one', and because he was, he was at the peak of the tower but it was too exhausting for him that he had to give up. Remember when he said, "Sima Guang saw a child, and it was himself." When people expect a lot from you, you live up to their expectations to the point that you lose track of yourself. Of who you really are even without them telling who you are. A Hao is in the same situation as Sima Guang. Except that depression ate him. Expectations drowned him.
While A Ho remained detached from the rest of the family. He knew he had enough of Radish's manipulative actions. And yet he was dragged into another trouble. The prison cell was his awakening of the life distant from the crimes he was brought up in. I felt blue seeing A Ho so lifeless and without dreams in life even after his release. All the brightness was seeped out of him. He didn't even bother getting released earlier.
How many joys and sorrows does life hold?
I don't know
But I could say that joys and sorrows come hand in hand
And if there's someone, who, regardless of his role, is not crying nor laughing but rather numb. I hope they can feel again.
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"Everything's fine
A Sun spanned several years in the lives of a dysfunctional family. One son shown like the sun, radiant and beaming. The other son lingered in the shadows, swallowed in darkness. Each would be envious of the other, unable to claim what they needed, both would suffer dire consequences for their unspoken desires.A Ho gets caught up in a violent event initiated by his buddy Radish and is sent away to a juvenile detention center. The criminal act is the last straw for his father who washes his hands of him. The father does, however, dote on his seemingly perfect oldest son, A Hao, who is testing for the second time to be accepted into medical school. The mother struggles to keep the family together and in the process the family is expanded when Ho’s girlfriend shows up with a surprise. When Ho is released, he works to take care of his family and put his past behind him. The darkness in his life, however, is not so easily eradicated.
The film hammered home that the two sons were a dichotomy of light and dark, good and evil, night and day, the sun and moon. Yet one yearned for the respite of the shadows, scorched to his soul by ever being the family’s light. Always giving himself away to others, with little leftover to nourish himself. The other son longed for the warmth of affection and acceptance from his family. Frozen from the darkness, afraid he’d never measure up, never feel the sun on his face.
The caretakers of the circus of light and darkness were the parents. Mother Chen fought tirelessly for her family. She tried to pierce the iron shield her idiot husband covered himself in regarding A Ho. With an open heart and open door, she accepted Ho’s girlfriend into their family and also trained her as a hairdresser. She even devised a better work situation for the two of them. Meanwhile, Papa Chen dug into his long-held prejudice against his youngest son. Prickly and recalcitrant, he distanced himself from everyone exasperating the situation. He was too often an impotent passenger at work and at home.
Along with the growth for the main three characters, the cinematography was gorgeous. This film was beautifully shot, including the all-important lighting in a film built on the metaphor. I also enjoyed the OST, especially a mournful instrumental that played during one scene. My biggest peeves were that in a 2 ½ hour film, Ho’s girlfriend was given almost nothing to do or say. Ho had very little interaction with her over the years. While she had a couple of key scenes, the character was badly underdeveloped. With all the time jumps and flash backs, I would have liked to have seen what caused A Ho to go down the criminal path he chose.
I may be a Butterfly but I have the attention span of a gnat and yet I was never bored with this film despite its length and slow burn. Most of the characters were deeply flawed and yet continued to move forward, refusing to give up when it appeared the easiest thing to do. There were moments of pain, humor, anger, and a gut level resiliency. If ever there was a film to express that “Everything’s fine” means exactly the opposite, it’s this one. Well-acted, well-written, painstakingly shot, A Sun shone brightly.
4 November 2025
Trigger warnings: Suicide. Dismembered body part early in the film. A short violent scene near the end.
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Beautiful and un-cliche
It's been a long time since I enjoyed a serious movie this much; going into this I had been worried that it would be pretentious and boring, but that wasn't the case at all.In fact, I felt like the plot never stopped moving, the story's pacing was great, and the movie actually took me by surprise in many scenes. I thought that something was going to happen and the movie was going to go the cliche route, but they didn't and instead I watched something that felt much more realistic and emotionally-charged, rather than needlessly dramatic.
We're given just enough information about every character and situation to make us emotionally invested — it really feels like we're given a intimate peek into the tensions between family members.
Cinematography was beautiful as well; overall, the tone of this movie is so nostalgic and warm. I was surprised that there were some parts that were truly funny, albeit a little bittersweet. I won't lie — it stressed me out a lot in many places, but that was partly due to my misplaced expectations. Go into this without any preconceived notions and you'll find yourself in love with it, I promise.
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In addition the film questions whether people are capable of change, as well as whether we can change people’s impressions of us.
Chung’s unforgettable family drama promises both to devastate and uplift audiences in any country where this masterpiece stands a chance at being released.
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