Zi Ben Jie Ban Ren (2024)

Passable as a skit, but fails as a proper story

Passable as a skit, but fails as a proper story. The premise is something I fantasized about in second grade - so cringe-inducing I can barely stand to read it, let alone watch it adapted into film. This movie exists in the worst limbo: neither authentic nor absurdist enough, neither riotous nor profound. At the very least, it should have articulated its core message clearly like Hello Mr. Billionaire did. Instead, audiences will chuckle mindlessly and forget everything afterward. Such wasted potential - it could have delivered a poignant truth: that parenting, whether too lax or too strict, inevitably becomes mutual destruction.

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