Papa
Café owner Nin’s ordinary, peaceful life is shattered when his 15-year-old son brutally murders his mother and younger sister one evening. His son is diagnosed with schizophrenia and immediately remanded to a psychiatric hospital. Faced with unfathomable loss and a son awaiting trial, Nin attempts to continue his everyday life, trying to understand what his son did and how he can possibly move on.
Based on a true story that shocked Hong Kong, Papa departs from the tropes of crime drama usually expected from adapting such an incident. Instead, director Philip Yung guides us into a quiet contemplation on grief and fatherhood. The film is a sombre reflection from the perspective of an ordinary father grappling with extraordinary loss, at the same time harbouring conflicted emotions towards his son too difficult for words. A meticulous study of a fractured family, the film is led by veteran actor Sean Lau in an award-winning performance and impressive newcomer Dylan So.
