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

3.5/5 stars
A widow in her sixties with a pair of estranged daughters is confronted with a difficult decision following a family tragedy in Huang Xi’s thoughtful drama Daughter’s Daughter.
Winner of the 2024 Golden Horse Awards prize for best screenplay at a ceremony in Taiwan in November, the film explores the strained relationships between parents and their children in a society that is losing sight of traditional filial duties.
Veteran actress Sylvia Chang Ai-chia gives one of her most nuanced and understated performances in recent memory as Jin, an ageing Taiwanese widow who is forced to travel to New York after her younger daughter, Zuer (Eugenie Liu Yi-er), dies in a car accident with her lesbian partner, Jiayi (Tracy Chou).


The couple were trying for a baby via IVF treatment and a viable embryo survives them, with Jin now the legal guardian. While wrestling with the grief of losing her child, Jin is burdened with the impossible task of deciding the fate of her as-yet unborn grandchild.
The tragedy also brings her back into contact with Emma (Karena Lam Ka-yan), the elder daughter she had when still a teenager and subsequently gave up for adoption.
Writer-director Huang honed her craft under Taiwanese New Wave master Hou Hsiao-hsien, working on the sets of both Goodbye South, Goodbye and The Assassin, and she brings the same understated, yet intricately observed character dynamics to Daughter’s Daughter, her second feature.
In less artful hands, the premise of stacked pan-generational trauma between mothers and daughters might come off as contrived, but Huang not only makes them feel effortlessly natural, she infuses the cascading conflict with a sense of tragic inevitability.

At a time when a woman’s right to choose is being addressed repeatedly in various genres of American cinema, Huang deftly sidesteps the larger issue by keeping Jin’s indecision grounded firmly in her own rocky past.
Her relationship with her own mother (Alannah Ong) is less than easy, and only made worse by the encroaching onset of dementia. Jin has lived her entire life burdened with the guilt of giving up Emma, and never fully accepted Zuer’s sexual orientation and lifestyle.
Now she yearns to make things right, yet also appears to cherish her busy urban tai-tai lifestyle.
Perhaps the only thing working against Daughter’s Daughter is that there is never any real doubt about what Jin will decide. Yet this lack of ambiguity renders all the more skilful Huang’s crafting of what is a wholly believable, absorbing dynastic tale about relatable women.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


From evil to good snake: how the zodiac animal became a righteous figure in Chinese mythology

‘You can’t turn him into Chow Yun-fat in one go.’ Stephen Chow’s Fight Back to School hero

How director Jia Zhangke captures China’s economic rise in his gritty films

Haunting Call movie review: Lin Min-chen sees ghosts in Danny Pang’s uneven horror

Asian cinema: Chinese films

Daughter’s Daughter movie review: Sylvia Chang anchors tale of pan-generational trauma

Sylvia Chang in a still from Daughter’s Daughter.

Sylvia Chang (left) and Karena Lam in a still from Daughter’s Daughter (category IIA; Mandarin), directed by Huang Xi. Eugenie Liu co-stars.

Eugenie Liu (left) and Sylvia Chang in a still from Daughter’s Daughter.

Papa movie review: Lau Ching-wan shines as traumatised father in true-crime family drama

Lau Ching-wan as Nin Yuen and Lainey Hung as his daughter in a still from Papa, directed by Philip Yung. Dylan So and Jo Koo co-star. Photo: Golden Scene

Jo Koo as Yin and Dylan So as her son and killer Ming in a still from Papa. Photo: Golden Scene.

Fresh Off Markham movie review: Chinese immigrant experience at heart of Canada-set comedy

Jessica Chan in a still from Fresh Off Markham.

Jessica Chan in a still from Fresh Off Markham (category IIB: Mandarin, English, Cantonese), directed by Kurt Yuen, Trevor Choi and Cyrus Lo. Chang Nian and Li He co-star.

Chang Nian (left) and Li He in a still from Fresh Off Markham.

(From left) Li He, Chang Nian, Edmond Clark and Jessica Chan in a still from Fresh Off Markham.

An Abandoned Team movie review: Lawrence Cheng bonds with stray dog in feel-good drama

Lawrence Cheng in a still from An Abandoned Team.

Lawrence Cheng and Amy Lo in a still from An Abandoned Team (category IIA, Cantonese), directed by Thomas Lee and Daniel Ho. Fish Liew also stars.


Lawrence Cheng (left) and Fish Liew in a still from An Abandoned Team.

Quotable quotes from Sylvia Chang on Asian stereotypes, Hollywood and making women’s films

Sylvia Chang at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, in 2022. Photo: AP

Sylvia Chang in 2015. Over the years, the Taiwanese actress-director has talked with the Post about everything from turning down Hollywood and Asian stereotypes to finding roles as she ages. We revisit some of the conversations that stand out. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro (left) and Gigi Leung in a still from Chang’s film Tempting Heart (1999).

Chang in a still from M*A*S*H in 1979.

(From left) Sam Hui, Chang and Karl Maka in a still from Aces Go Places (1982).

Chang in a still from That Day, on the Beach.

Chang at an interview with the Post in 1995. Photo: Eric Li

(From left) Rene Liu, Chang and Angelica Lee at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival, where they presented the film 20 30 40. Photo: Reuters

Chang and Tian Zhuangzhuang in a still from Love Education (2017).

Chang holds her award for best leading actress at the 2022 Golden Horse Awards, in Taipei. Photo: AP

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Hou Hsiao-hsien acolyte Huang Xi’s second feature is an absorbing, skilfully crafted family drama anchored by Chang’s nuanced performance


Hou Hsiao-hsien acolyte Huang Xi’s second feature is an absorbing, skilfully crafted family drama anchored by Chang’s nuanced performance.


Chinese language cinema

Asian cinema

Film reviews

Cinema

Fame and celebrity

Golden Horse awards

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 | Daughter’s Daughter movie review: Sylvia Chang anchors tale of pan-generational trauma

Hou Hsiao-hsien acolyte Huang Xi’s second feature is an absorbing, skilfully crafted family drama anchored by Chang’s nuanced performance