Ilo Ilo

Exasperation drives the actions of the key players in Ilo Ilo, a film that is both a vivid portrait of recession-struck Singapore in 1997 and a subdued, bittersweet affair that retains a natural feel.

When bratty ten-year-old Jiale (Ler) finally proves too uncontrollable for his over-worked, heavily pregnant mother Hwee Leng (Yeo), she and her husband Teck (Chen) hire a Filipina live-in maid, Teresa (Bayani). The child spitefully rejects the nanny, but affection and complicity eventually manifest, though the situations for the adults quietly worsen as each keep their turmoil to themselves. Teresa must secretly take a second job to help support her baby back home and Teck loses a fortune playing the stock market and hides his job loss from his wife, who becomes increasingly threatened by Teresa and Jiale’s growing rapport.

Anthony Chen gives his impressively finessed feature debut ample breathing space, avoiding attempts to play down everyone’s aggravating traits and steering away from the conventional roads this sort of story could venture down, favouring instead a more nuanced approach. [Josh Slater-Williams]