the audience applauded

Lack of good storyline.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This movie left me speechless. It is, for me, definitely on the same level as other classics like "So-Won" and "Miracle in Cell No. 7" and what it has in common with those movies is that it also explores human relationships, especially those between sons/daughters and their respective parents. The story is pretty much simple.. or at least, it seems so. A couple getting through a divorce has to deal with the disappearance of their only son. They try to find him and in the process, heal, as well. What I really liked about this movie, putting aside the amazing performances, is the way it portrays the story and it portrays it in a such way that we look at it from various perspectives. Of course, we sympathize with the birth parents and the pain they're feeling but we also cannot help but sympathize with the mother who has now, like them, lost their children. We also feel sad for this kid because it is sad enough to be taken away from your family one time but, two times, that's enough. The scene where Li runs after the parents while they try to take her son away or the scene where she is shoved away by different people when she tries to hug her son are very difficult to watch and we cannot wonder if they're doing to her what it was done also to them. Her involvement in the kidnapping of her son is not truly explained: did she know or was she just lying? We don't know and she's in a complex situation but we can't help but still sympathize with her, especially at the very last scene when it is revealed that she was also a victim, that she could in fact reproduce and was lied to by her husband. The director did a great job by switching the perspectives on the second half of the movie and the movie does not ever lose its focus, on the contrary, it makes it even more compelling. Every one of the actors is great, the way they portray their pain on screen is so real that sometimes it's like we also feel their pain but I can't help but feel completely amazed by Zhao Wei's performance. She completely blew me away. At the end, when there's pictures and videos of the original parents in which the movie was based on, we realize we're not just watching a movie, we're watching something real; we're watching the real state of China where child kidnapping is a current. This movie was a wonderful experience, one that definitely marked me and I won't ever forget it.

I thought this movie was okay, but definitely not my favorites! I thought it was very interesting that it was based on a true story, and unlike other kidnapping movies, it was very, very unique. I thought that the actors were really talented, especially the kids. However, it was really confusing (at least for me). The movie often switched between main characters which I thought was kind of strange, but subtle. For example, there was the little boy as the main character in the beginning along with his parents, but then it switched to the lady who "adopted" him later. I felt really bad for all characters in this movie, and although Peng was returned to his real parents, there were so many problems and traumatic things that had happened that couldn't be undone. First, Peng was stolen from his family, then moved to a rural area where his name got changed, then stolen back by his real parents (whom he didn't even remember!) One thing that I didn't like was how mean the real parents were to the widow who "adopted him". Since her late husband told her that he adopted Peng, she thought he was actually hers, so she went through that loss too, of losing her child even though it wasn't actually hers and her husband had abducted him. I wish that his real parents would have bonded a little more, since they were going through the same things! Although this story followed the journey of Peng's abduction, he also had a sister that the lady's late husband supposedly "adopted" as well. (But I think that she was really abducted too). Where did she come from? Where were her parents? Why didn't the movie even touch on this? I think it would have been interesting to involve her story too, even if she wasn't returned to her parents in the end. Although I felt so badly for the fake adoptive mom and widow, I thought she was a bit annoying. She seemed to believe everything her husband told her, including that she was infertile! Also, how could she not know something was up when her husband brought home two strange kids without any paperwork or struggle? Also, part of me wishes we could have met the husband before he died, because he seemed like a very interesting and scary character. I did like the ending, even though it wasn't really much of an ending. I liked the scene of the widow crying on the hospital floor because it really showed so much emotion and despair, and I liked how the lawyer was looking back at her because he seemed like he really grew to like his client compared to the beginning of the movie.

Dearest is a very good film that gives you the look on Child Abduction with a happier ending. This review will have many spoilers, but mainly focussing on what I thought was important. It all starts with a divorced husband and wife and their son. They argue with each other, and eventually, one day their son, Pengpeng is taken by an abductor who then brings him to a farm, which we later find out. The parents handle this just like everyone else would. They eventually join a group that helps with losing a child due to abduction, and that helps them cope with a joint feeling between the group members of remaining to search for their children. I am also interested to find out the number of families that actually do find their child after 3 years of searching. Anyways, when Pengpeng is finally found he does not recognize his parents anymore, and wants to go back to his abducted parent's home, which he believes to be his real home. You need to see the movie to know the rest, but I feel this movie did a great job explaining the whole process. The one thing I am questioning though is how Pengpeng's second Mom did not know of how she obtained the children that were brought to her by her husband. Dearest is a very good movie, and I recommend you see it.

Since 2004, most of Peter Chan's films were big-budget production, co-produced with China, such as Perhaps Love, Wu Xia, but lost the precious spirit he had. For Dearest, Peter Chan recovers his credit. Not only The watchable Dearest doesn't become the propaganda as most of mainland films like, but also refuse to be anti-govern picture. Dearest honestly focus on lost and return. The screenplay is good writing, but a little weak in the second part, thankfully, upgrading by unimaginable Chiu Mei (aka Zhao Wei). Additionally, Editing and Cinematography are perfect.Chen should thank to his great ensemble cast. Huang Bo proves he is not only the best comedy actor, but also an intelligent drama performer. Hao, who played Lu Xiaojuan, has the most wonderful character, a ex-wife who had cheated her ex-husband, an ill-mannered lady who destroyed her current marriage, a victim who facing the foster mother, and the heart breaking mother whose child has forget her. However, she wast the best role of the film, Hao excelled one dimension of the lost child mother. It's easy to feel sympathy for the role, however, frail it is. Surprisingly, Zhang Yi remarkable portray steal the sense. At Pangpang's birthday party, his helpless and depression should be his award moment.Undoubtedly, the greatest performance from Zhao, an underrated actress in China. Granted, she has less scenes than Huang and Hao, and the poor support by script of her part, but she control the gravity of the whole film. Zhao shows a complex and paradox humanity in a simple, low- educated personality. Her restrained and spell-blinding acting style would establish her as Chinese Ellen Burstyn.