Returning to his native Singapore after filming in Greece and China, director Anthony Chen delivers a hypnotic conclusion to his loosely connected “Growing Up” trilogy with “We Are All Strangers” (Wo Men Bu Shi Mo Sheng Ren). The result is as rich and satisfying as a plate of Hokkien noodles—warm, carefully prepared, and meant to be savored.
The film follows two parallel stories: a rudderless young man completing mandatory military service and his hardworking father who runs a modest street-side noodle stall. Both navigate love, marriage, loss, and the fragile nature of dreams in a Singapore marked by unspoken class divisions and rapid urban transformation.
What connects this film to its predecessors—the poignant “Ilo Ilo” and melancholic “Wet Season”—is Chen’s fresco-like attention to life’s small moments. With unflashy elegance and a strong sense of place, he builds intimate stories against the expansive backdrop of a bustling city where tradition increasingly rubs against progress.
At 21, Junyang (Koh Jia Ler) drifts through life with little ambition beyond making easier money than his father. His focus rests on high school sweetheart Lydia (Regene Lim), whose wealthier family looks down on him. When an unexpected development upends their plans, both young people accelerate into adulthood and responsibility.
Meanwhile, Boon Kiat (Andi Lim), the uncomplaining noodle stall owner, finds himself drawn to Bee Hwa (Yeo Yan Yan), a brassy beer hostess from Malaysia who works the tables outside his stall. Their unlikely courtship becomes one of the film’s sweetest pleasures—her tough exterior gradually cracking to reveal fondness, his unsophisticated gestures always considerate of her needs.
Chen owes a clear debt to Taiwanese master Edward Yang, whose sprawling family portraits in films like “Yi Yi” set a standard for character-based storytelling. One wedding shot here, with pink balloons and a prominent Double Happiness neon, feels like direct homage. Chen also follows Yang’s lead with a generous two-and-a-half-hour runtime—an investment viewers will find richly rewarded.
The movie achieves emotional resonance without tipping into sentimentality. Even Slapping Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” over the end credits—an obvious choice in a film about evolving family roles—feels earned, an organic extension of the depth Chen cultivates across his four-character portrait.
Before long, both couples share a modest public housing apartment, with Junyang and Lydia now parents. Junyang’s immaturity strains their relationship as Lydia wrestles with regret over abandoned studies. Through it all, Chen’s micro-macro lens reveals beauty in struggle, poetry in the everyday.
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Competition)
Cast: Yeo Yan Yan, Koh Jia Ler, Regene Lim, Andi Lim
Director-screenwriter: Anthony Chen
2 hours 37 minutes
About the Author
