Ilo Ilo - film review

It’s tough to go down in the world. This superb drama from Singapore asks what happens when you’re already at the bottom?
Stress and strain: the family hires a Filipino servant to ease the pressure

This superb drama from Singapore would make a great companion piece to Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary The Queen of Versailles. Both films explore how economic meltdown affects families and, just as importantly, the Filipino servants who work for said families. It’s tough to go down in the world. What happens when you’re already at the bottom?

It’s 1997 and Teck (Tian Wen Chen) has been sacked from his job, though he can’t bear to tell his wife, the heavily pregnant Hwee (Yeo Yann Yann). The latter is driven to distraction by their obstreperous 10-year-old son, Jiale (Koh Jia Ler), and the jittery atmosphere at work (she’s a secretary, surrounded by people about to get the chop). So the couple hire nanny and general dogsbody Teresa (Angeli Bayani) to ease the pressure.

Teresa is treated abominably by Jiale. She also misses her baby son, who’s back home in Ilo Ilo, a province of the Philippines. Meanwhile, Hwee continues to feel stressed. And Teck has more bad news in store.

Amazingly, there’s nothing depressing about Anthony Chen’s debut. Maybe it’s the film’s pace. Scenes end abruptly, often before you’ve absorbed their meaning (the scars on a woman’s wrists, an employer snoozing against her will), which creates excitement rather than confusion. The desperation that fuels the minor as well as major characters gets your blood racing. So do the unexpected moments of sweetness. Chen, who is 29, grew up with a Filipino maid. His film is low on feel-good pizzazz but absolutely brimming with love and respect.

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