This review may contain spoilers
The grandmother, in fact, does die, but she gives you a lot to think about before she leaves.
I'm going to be thinking about this movie for a very long time. I don't know how to describe how wonderfully it was made. It was what I would call a slow film, but I did not feel bored for even half a second. It was very gripping, very gripping. It just had control of me the whole time. And it was such a cool movie. I don't even know how to explain it. You're watching people at its core. There's no like storyline, oh, this is what happens next after that. No, it's just people's normal lives. This is what happens. This is actuality. This is reality. I don't know what I'm saying, but it really, really made me feel so much.
You go into this film knowing that the main character, the grandson, will look after his grandma for the sole purpose of earning money or, you know, getting whatever she basically inherits all her stuff. And that is the premise of the movie, and we all know that, oh, he's gonna really love her, and then it's gonna be sad and depressing. That is the whole movie, but it is so much deeper than that. And we know it is deeper than that. We go in knowing that it is supposed to be deep, and it really is deep. I was just randomly sending a video to my friends, and the context was, spoiler for this movie is, the grandma actually does die at the end. That's the spoiler I gave them because I don't know how else I can explain it. This was a whole journey from, I don't know, it was that good. It was, it made me feel so much, and it made me feel just deep to my core, a feeling that I haven't felt in such a long time. I haven't been moved by a movie in such a long time, and I really applaud the fact that the director was able to do this without adding some huge fight or drama. No, the director just showed the daily reality of people. This is how life is, and this is how life will be.
Another thing I really, really loved about this movie was that it was a great story, and sometimes a great story does not need a huge plotline. There were no villains, there was no great drama, there was no horrible fight. The best part of this movie was that you really got to see the movie at its core, and what it's showing is that the world isn't black and white. You would think that the grandson is some spoiled, imbecilic child. I don't know. And he really is at the beginning, and the whole concept is that, oh, he gets better and he goes from bad to good, but that's not it, is it? He was always good, and he made some poor decisions, but at the end of the day, he was a good person. He is a good person, and he loved his grandmother. That is a core fact. We can go through these types of feelings with every single character, and I love that. I genuinely do.
Starting with Mui, M's cousin. At first, I thought she would be an example for M and tell him off for behaving that way, but she was the one who actually planted this idea in his head. But the more time you spend with this character, the more you seem to understand her. She didn't come from a place of greed or exploitation. It really rubbed me the wrong way when she said that it doesn't matter why you spend time with them, it just matters that you do. But again, she's right. You can try to make the best for yourself while also giving to others as long as you're not hurting them. And who knows, you might actually end up in a much better position than you expected. When asked if she ever dreamed of grandpa, she showed her true colours. The love she had for the man was never questioned again. Same with M.
The trio of siblings were all such interesting characters. The way that they showed love was very different from one another, and yet they still loved their mom. Sew is the only one who didn't want anything from the mom, and that's why the mom wanted to live with her the most. Sew wasn't the favourite, but Grandma felt most at home with her. There's something very beautiful and poetic about that. And Uncle Khiang. Grandma gave up beef for him. That scene of M telling him was portrayed so beautifully. It wasn't loud or had any negative feelings towards the man. He was simply reminding his uncle of what's important: his mom.
What do I even say about M? I hated him at first. But I knew he was gonna change; the whole movie depended on that fact. I teared up a lot in this movie, but the sobbing only started when I saw him cry for the first time. When grandma was at his house, he sang her the same lullaby she used to sing for him. That was the moment it really hit him that she was leaving, and nothing else mattered than the love they shared for each other. The relationship between them is very pure. Grandma didn't have favourites, of course, but he definitely had a special spot reserved way before all this Cancer stuff even happened.
One of the earlier scenes hit me very hard. It was the temple scene where he was pointing out that none of the family members had put her in their wishes. And he was doing that to get the attention back on him, yet his wish wasn't something attention-seeking. It wasn't, I hope my grandma gets better or may she live long. He simply paid attention to what she wanted and wrote that down. Maybe I'm looking too deeply into it, but that's just how I felt. Even when he got upset about not getting anything, he seemed more mad about her health than anything. Like the realisation of her dying was slowly creeping in, and this was a good reason to yell.
Lastly, probably a crowd favourite, I will buy you a new house. The amount of pain and love this particular scene made me feel is impossible to describe in words. It really shows you how pure a child's love is. His grandma told him, I am going to be saving money for you until I die. And his response was, Oh, I hope you save this much money so that I can have this much money. And his grandma was like, Oh, you want me to die? And he's like, I just want the money so that I can buy you a new house. His whole thought process was that, Oh, I'm going to be getting money. What do I do with this money? Give my grandma a new house. Can love be purer than this? This is my favourite scene in the movie. What can I say? I am like all the other sheep out there. And cut to the scene of, "We're almost at the big plot I bought you". M fulfilled his promise.
I have never written a review this long for a movie, and yet this is not nearly enough for me to express my love for it. It is a beautiful movie. A beautiful story. I feel very happy. I have been waiting to watch somethig this fullfilling for a while and I'm glad it was this one.
You go into this film knowing that the main character, the grandson, will look after his grandma for the sole purpose of earning money or, you know, getting whatever she basically inherits all her stuff. And that is the premise of the movie, and we all know that, oh, he's gonna really love her, and then it's gonna be sad and depressing. That is the whole movie, but it is so much deeper than that. And we know it is deeper than that. We go in knowing that it is supposed to be deep, and it really is deep. I was just randomly sending a video to my friends, and the context was, spoiler for this movie is, the grandma actually does die at the end. That's the spoiler I gave them because I don't know how else I can explain it. This was a whole journey from, I don't know, it was that good. It was, it made me feel so much, and it made me feel just deep to my core, a feeling that I haven't felt in such a long time. I haven't been moved by a movie in such a long time, and I really applaud the fact that the director was able to do this without adding some huge fight or drama. No, the director just showed the daily reality of people. This is how life is, and this is how life will be.
Another thing I really, really loved about this movie was that it was a great story, and sometimes a great story does not need a huge plotline. There were no villains, there was no great drama, there was no horrible fight. The best part of this movie was that you really got to see the movie at its core, and what it's showing is that the world isn't black and white. You would think that the grandson is some spoiled, imbecilic child. I don't know. And he really is at the beginning, and the whole concept is that, oh, he gets better and he goes from bad to good, but that's not it, is it? He was always good, and he made some poor decisions, but at the end of the day, he was a good person. He is a good person, and he loved his grandmother. That is a core fact. We can go through these types of feelings with every single character, and I love that. I genuinely do.
Starting with Mui, M's cousin. At first, I thought she would be an example for M and tell him off for behaving that way, but she was the one who actually planted this idea in his head. But the more time you spend with this character, the more you seem to understand her. She didn't come from a place of greed or exploitation. It really rubbed me the wrong way when she said that it doesn't matter why you spend time with them, it just matters that you do. But again, she's right. You can try to make the best for yourself while also giving to others as long as you're not hurting them. And who knows, you might actually end up in a much better position than you expected. When asked if she ever dreamed of grandpa, she showed her true colours. The love she had for the man was never questioned again. Same with M.
The trio of siblings were all such interesting characters. The way that they showed love was very different from one another, and yet they still loved their mom. Sew is the only one who didn't want anything from the mom, and that's why the mom wanted to live with her the most. Sew wasn't the favourite, but Grandma felt most at home with her. There's something very beautiful and poetic about that. And Uncle Khiang. Grandma gave up beef for him. That scene of M telling him was portrayed so beautifully. It wasn't loud or had any negative feelings towards the man. He was simply reminding his uncle of what's important: his mom.
What do I even say about M? I hated him at first. But I knew he was gonna change; the whole movie depended on that fact. I teared up a lot in this movie, but the sobbing only started when I saw him cry for the first time. When grandma was at his house, he sang her the same lullaby she used to sing for him. That was the moment it really hit him that she was leaving, and nothing else mattered than the love they shared for each other. The relationship between them is very pure. Grandma didn't have favourites, of course, but he definitely had a special spot reserved way before all this Cancer stuff even happened.
One of the earlier scenes hit me very hard. It was the temple scene where he was pointing out that none of the family members had put her in their wishes. And he was doing that to get the attention back on him, yet his wish wasn't something attention-seeking. It wasn't, I hope my grandma gets better or may she live long. He simply paid attention to what she wanted and wrote that down. Maybe I'm looking too deeply into it, but that's just how I felt. Even when he got upset about not getting anything, he seemed more mad about her health than anything. Like the realisation of her dying was slowly creeping in, and this was a good reason to yell.
Lastly, probably a crowd favourite, I will buy you a new house. The amount of pain and love this particular scene made me feel is impossible to describe in words. It really shows you how pure a child's love is. His grandma told him, I am going to be saving money for you until I die. And his response was, Oh, I hope you save this much money so that I can have this much money. And his grandma was like, Oh, you want me to die? And he's like, I just want the money so that I can buy you a new house. His whole thought process was that, Oh, I'm going to be getting money. What do I do with this money? Give my grandma a new house. Can love be purer than this? This is my favourite scene in the movie. What can I say? I am like all the other sheep out there. And cut to the scene of, "We're almost at the big plot I bought you". M fulfilled his promise.
I have never written a review this long for a movie, and yet this is not nearly enough for me to express my love for it. It is a beautiful movie. A beautiful story. I feel very happy. I have been waiting to watch somethig this fullfilling for a while and I'm glad it was this one.
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