/uXtdDvz7A4v8yc0HG1gC2HGuzWp.jpg
CrimeDrama

Papa

- How far can a father's love go?

A 15-year-old boy murders his mother and sister. The father, Nin Yuen, returns to his cafe, haunted by memories of a once-happy family: his wife preparing breakfast, his son playing video games, and his daughter caring for their calico cat. Yuen finds himself unable to hate the living or forget the dead. As they confront life’s cruelty, will Yuen and his son’s strained relationship ever find redemption? 

Release Date : 2024-12-05

Language :Cantonese

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Golden SceneWord By Word LimitedThe Book of a PlayFilm Development Fund of HK

Production Country : Hong Kong

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Sean Lau

Character Name : Yuen Wing Nin

Original Name : 劉青雲

Gender : Male

Jo Kok

Character Name : Kam Yin

Original Name : 谷祖琳

Gender : Female

Dylan So Man-To

Character Name : Yuen Hau Ming

Original Name : 蘇文濤

Gender : Male

Lainey Hung

Character Name : Yuen Hau Yan

Original Name : 熊諾頤

Gender : Female

Yeung Wai-Lun

Character Name :

Original Name : 楊偉倫

Gender : Male

Helen Tam Yuk-Ying

Character Name :

Original Name : 譚玉瑛

Gender : Female

Cecilia Chan Lai-Wan

Character Name :

Original Name : 陳麗雲

Gender : Female

Amy Chum

Character Name :

Original Name : 覃恩美

Gender : Female

Law Wing-Cheong

Character Name :

Original Name : 羅永昌

Gender : Male

Nic Tsang Chun-Yuen

Character Name :

Original Name : Nic Tsang Chun-Yuen

Gender : Male

Siu Fa

Character Name : Carnation

Original Name : Siu Fa

Gender : Male

Hui So-Ying

Character Name : Ying

Original Name : Hui So-Ying

Gender : Female

John Shum Kin-Fun

Character Name :

Original Name : 岑建勳

Gender : Male

Chan Fai-Hung

Character Name :

Original Name : 陳輝虹

Gender : Male

Tai Bo

Character Name : Ho Kim

Original Name : 太保

Gender : Male

Helen Tam Yuk-Ying

Character Name : Doctor

Original Name : 譚玉瑛

Gender : Female

Stephen Ho

Character Name :

Original Name : 何啟南

Gender : Male

Mak Pui-Tung

Character Name :

Original Name : 麥沛東

Gender : Male

Wong Kar Wai

Character Name : Restaurant Boss

Original Name : Wong Kar Wai

Gender : Male

Ivan Yuen Man-Tai

Character Name :

Original Name : 阮文泰

Gender : Male

Edan Lui

Character Name : Yuen Hau Ming (Adult)

Original Name : 呂爵安

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2025-03-12

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.