bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

James Marsh

3/5 stars
A pair of undocumented orphans navigate the slums of Kuala Lumpur in writer-director Jin Ong’s debut feature, Abang Adik, which arrives in Hong Kong cinemas upon a wave of rapturous critical acclaim.
After it became the first Malaysian film to take top honours at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, Taiwanese star Wu Kang-ren was anointed with the best actor prize at last month’s Golden Horse awards.
Wu delivers a compelling performance as Abang, a deaf-mute who works odd jobs at a local wet market. He shares his modest flat with Adik (Malaysian star Jack Tan), his fellow orphan and sworn brother.


Unlike Abang, Adik is dissatisfied with his station in life, and yearns for a better future. This regularly steers the young man onto the wrong side of the law, whether hawking fake passports or working as a rent boy.
Despite both young men being born in Malaysia, their lack of official paperwork means they are constantly on the run from the authorities.

Their bustling flat complex, home to a vibrant, culturally diverse collective of migrants from all over the region, is targeted again and again by immigration officials, who bully, intimidate and even incarcerate the residents on an all too regular basis.
There are glimmers of hope in the desperate lives of these two wayward youths. Money (Tan Kim-wang), a middle-aged transgender woman who lives downstairs, welcomes the pair into her eclectic yet loving circle, which offers the pair something approaching a family structure.
Abang has feelings for a young neighbour from Myanmar (played by April Chan), while Serene Lim’s social worker seems committed to fighting their cause and shoring up their immigrant status.

That is, however, until a sudden act of accidental violence sends the brothers into a tragic tailspin from which they may not be able to recover.
Ong directs with the assured hand of a far more seasoned filmmaker, while Kartik Vijay’s lush cinematography and a vibrant score from Ryota Katayama create a thoroughly absorbing sense of place.
Performances across the board are convincing and demand empathy, but ultimately Ong’s screenplay lets the film down. In his efforts to stage a tragic denouement of sacrifice and redemption, Ong paints his protagonists into a corner of arch dramatic contrivance.

Where the central relationship between Abang and Adik has always been one of shared sacrifice, experience and reward, it culminates in an act of bewildering deception that never quite rings true.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


How the Erotic Ghost Story films shocked and seduced Hong Kong

Chinese film about Covid lockdown wins top prize in 2024 Golden Horse awards in Taiwan

Why Miriam Yeung, leading Hong Kong singer and actress, ‘lost her whole self’ for a while

Blossoms Under Somewhere movie review: Collar’s Marf Yau shines in lightweight youth drama

Asian cinema: Chinese films

Abang Adik movie review: Taiwanese actor Wu Kang-ren stars as a deaf-mute in acclaimed Malaysian drama directed by debutant Jin Ong

Wu Kang-ren (left) and Jack Tan in a still from “Abang Adik”.

Wu Kang-ren (front) and Jack Tan in a still from “Abang Adik” (Category III, Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese), directed by Jin Ong.

Wu Kang-ren in a still from “Abang Adik”.

Jack Tan in a still from “Abang Adik”.

Why Malaysian film Pendatang, a dystopian thriller playing on country’s ethnic tensions, aims to dodge censors with YouTube release

Qaidah Marha as Panda, the Malay girl who turns the Wongs’ new life upside down in “Pendatang”. Photo: courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures.   

The Wongs in a still from Pendatang, an entirely crowdfunded Malaysian dystopian thriller that will be released on YouTube on December 21. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures

Fredy Chan as Wong in a still from Pendatang. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures 

Grace Ng as soldier Botak in a still from Pendatang. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures

Qaidah Marha as Panda, the Malay girl who turns the Wongs’ new life upside down, in a still from Pendatang. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures

Director Ng Ken Kin (left) on the set of Pendatang. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures

Fredy Chan (front) as Wong in a still from Pendatang. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures

The Wongs’ life changes when they find a Malay girl hidden in the attic of their new home in Pendatang. Photo: Courtesy of Eddy Izuwan Musa / Kuman Pictures

Last Suspect movie review: ludicrous Chinese legal thriller directed by Zhang Yimou’s daughter is latest in a wave of such films set in unnamed Southeast Asian hellholes

Zhang Xiaofei as high-flying lawyer Vicky Chen in a still from “Last Suspect” (category IIB, Mandarin) directed by Zhang Mo. Lee Hong-chi co-stars.



Lee Hong-chi as Kim in a still from “Last Suspect”.

Kara Wai as the murder victim’s mother in a still from “Last Suspect”.

Hong Junjia in a still from “Last Suspect”.

Ready or Rot movie review: Hong Kong romantic drama is one of the best-scripted in recent memory, with stand-out performances from Michelle Wai and Elaine Jin

Michelle Wai (left) and Elaine Jin in a still from “Ready or Rot” (category IIB; Cantonese), a Hong Kong romantic drama directed by Anselm Chan and co-starring Carlos Chan.            

(From left) Shum Ka-ki, Chu Pak-hong and Carlos Chan in a still from “Ready or Rot”.

(From left) Hedwig Tam, Renci Yeung and Michelle Wai in a still from “Ready or Rot”.

Elegies movie review: Ann Hui documentary is a dual portrait of Hong Kong poets Huang Canran and Liu Waitong – and a subtle lament for the city they once called home

Director Ann Hui (left) and poet Huang Canran in a still from “Elegies”.

Poet Liu Waitong in a still from “Elegies” (category I, Cantonese, Mandarin),  a documentary about Hong Kong’s contemporary poetry scene directed by Ann Hui.



Author and poet Xi Xi in a still from “Elegies”.

Death Stranding movie review: dull, unrealistic Chinese crime thriller directed by Hong Kong’s Danny Pang is a tale of corruption, or is it revenge?

Wallace Chung in a still from “Death Stranding”.

Wallace Chung as Feng, a police officer, in a still from “Death Stranding” (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Danny Pang. Francis Ng and Eddie Cheung co-star.

Eddie Cheung as corrupt gambling tycoon Wu Xin in a still from “Death Stranding”.

Francis Ng as corrupt crime fighter Zuo in a still from “Death Stranding”.

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

The first Malaysian film to take top honours at Italy’s Far East Film Festival, Abang Adik sees Wu Kang-ren and Jack Tan play deaf-mute orphans in Kuala Lumpur
The performances are convincing, everything looks lush, the directing is assured and the score is vibrant – but the screenplay ultimately lets the film down


Jin Ong’s award-winning debut feature Abang Adik sees Wu Kang-ren star as a deaf-mute in Kuala Lumpur, whose friendship with a fellow undocumented orphan is tested by a sudden act of accidental violence.


Chinese language cinema

Asian cinema

Film reviews

Cinema

Fame and celebrity

Golden Horse awards

Malaysia

Taiwan

What to do in Hong Kong

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Abang Adik movie review: Taiwanese actor Wu Kang-ren stars as a deaf-mute in acclaimed Malaysian drama directed by debutant Jin Ong