An intriguing drama based on the 2010 Hong Kong murders

Hong Kong film critic-turned-director Philip Yung's latest feature film begins with a harrowing crime committed by an unlikely culprit: one night, without any warning or explanation, a troubled 15-year-old boy named Ming (Dylan So) picks up a meat cleaver. in the kitchen and then proceeds to kill his mother and sister in cold blood.

Yung explores the before and after of that shocking event through the eyes of Ming's father, Yuen (Sean Lau), who tries to rebuild his life while also trying to understand what could have driven his son to commit such a horrendous act. . In this sense, Dad recalls the director's 2015 thriller, Port of callonly this time the plot isn't about who did it, but why. And even more than that, it's about how to continue living after facing such a total tragedy.

Switching back and forth from one period to the next, the film is less a thriller than a kaleidoscope of impressions. Guilt and remorse swirl in both the past and present, relieved by occasional flickers of happiness. We are constantly stuck in Yuen's head as he tries to make sense of a world gone wrong and also reconnect with a son who is already lost. It's an almost impossible emotional journey and although Dad never channels it strongly enough, it remains an intriguing look at how a broken family might find redemption.

The story is based on a real case that happened in 2010 in Tsuen Wan, a suburb of residential skyscrapers and busy market streets located in the northwest of Hong Kong. It's there that Yuen and his wife Yin (Jo Koo) run a busy 24/7 family restaurant that caters to the people of the neighborhood. The couple is also raising two sons: Ming, who we see at various ages from 5 to 15; and her sweet little sister, Grace.

Since we know from the beginning what Ming will end up doing, we carefully observe the signs of his strange behavior. The guy is extremely introverted and possibly on the spectrum. (At one point he mentions autism, although he isn't necessarily referring to him.) He is obsessed with animal rights and the state of the environment, which may explain why he confesses to police that he killed Yin and Grace to avoid the overcrowding of the place. planet.

But none of this really explains what drove him to get this far. When Yuen visits his son in the psychiatric prison where he was sentenced to ten years, he continues to ask the question we all ask: Why? The fact that neither Ming nor the film provides a clear answer may be dramatically frustrating for some viewers, but it also rings true. As Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote: “What one cannot speak about, one must remain silent about. There are some things that remain unspeakable.

Yuen doesn't say much either. He is a taciturn boy and a rather strict father figure, but he is far from being an abusive parent. We see him encouraging his children in numerous flashbacks, whether he is training Ming to work at the restaurant or allowing Grace to bring a stray cat into their home. He seems to want the best for his children, even if he doesn't know how to communicate it to them.

The director captures the family's life before and after the murder, in a series of visually and thematically connected scenes that spring from Yuen's anguished mind. We don't always know where we are on the timeline and it doesn't necessarily matter. The narrative approach is reminiscent of Wong Kar-wai's work — Yung's Port of call it was filmed by Christopher Doyle, who made many of Wong's films, in which scenes exist less in the present than as fleeting memories experienced by the main characters.

This style somewhat attenuates the dramatic impact of Daddespite the extensive use of slow motion, music and other techniques intended to try to heighten sensations. Yung is more of a cerebral director than an emotional one; what interests him is how Yuen copes with what happened, not necessarily how he feels. Lau, who starred in Johnnie To's Crazy detectiveperfectly encapsulates a character who faces horrific challenges with total stoicism, even as you can feel he's burning inside.

This sentiment is evident from the first scene, in which we see Yuen preparing the restaurant for another day of work, picking up chairs and accepting food deliveries. Meanwhile, forensic officers are still investigating the murder in his apartment, where there is a huge bloodstain on the living room floor. Dad he asks us how it is possible for these two worlds to coexist and whether a loving father can find a way to exist within them.