Ilo Ilo
Starring: Chen Tianwen, Yeo Yann Yann, Angeli Bayani
Director: Anthony Chen
Rating: 4/5
Ilo Ilo is a movie that has already been lighting up the festival circuit - playing at the likes of Cannes and London - and now it is set to hit the big screen.
Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Ilo Ilo chronicles the day-to-day drama of the Lim family - troublesome grade-schooler Jiale and his overstressed parents, Heck and Leng.
Comfortably middleclass and with another baby on the way, they hire Teresa, a Filipino immigrant, as a live-in maid and nanny.
An outsider in both the family and Singapore itself, Teresa initially struggles to manage Jiale's antics and find her footing in her new community.
The two eventually form a unique bond, but just as Teresa becomes an unspoken part of the family, unforeseen circumstances in an uncertain economy will challenge the new normal yet again
Anthony Chen is no stranger to the director's chair, with a whole host of short films under his belt, but Ilo Ilo marks his feature film debut.
And what a terrific debut it is from Chen, as this family drama is packed with humour and humanity and it really will tug at the heartstrings.
This is an incredibly intimate drama, as we are taken into the heart of an ordinary family: audiences really can relate to the situation and all of the characters in one way or another.
This may be a film set in Singapore, yet this is a universal story: many people will be able to see themselves and their own family in these characters.
The acting in Ilo Ilo is just top notch - Koh Jia Ler and Angeli Bayani are particularly good as Jiale and Teresa.
The pair really does build a great bond, and the relationship between them seems so incredibly genuine and real.
Ilo Ilo is a terrific family/comedy drama, and Chen is a filmmaker that we should all be very excited about. Great stuff!!!
Ilo Ilo is out now.