General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Papa (爸爸)

Papa (爸爸) is a 2024 Hong Kong crime drama film written and directed by Philip Yung (翁子光), starring Lau Ching-wan (劉青雲) as a café owner whose teenage son murders his wife and younger daughter. It is adapted from a real 2010 killing in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, and premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival before its Hong Kong theatrical release in December 2024.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Director and writer	Philip Yung (翁子光), whose earlier film Port of Call (2015) was also drawn from a real Hong Kong killing³
Lead cast	Lau Ching-wan as Nin Yuen (阮永年), Jo Koo (谷祖琳) as his wife Kam Yin, Dylan So (蘇文濤) as son Ming, Lainey Hung (熊諾頤) as daughter Hau-yan²^•⁴
Basis	The 2010 Tsuen Wan case in which 15-year-old Kwan Kai-leung (關嘉亮) killed his mother and sister; the production received the support of the real case's father, Mr. Kwan⁵^•⁶
Premiere and release	October 31, 2024 (Tokyo International Film Festival, competition); December 5, 2024 (Hong Kong)¹^•⁷
Runtime and language	About 130 minutes (listed as 129, 130, or 131 minutes by different sources); Cantonese and Hakka⁸^•²^•⁹
Major awards	43rd Hong Kong Film Awards (2025): Best Actor (Lau), Best Supporting Actress (Jo Koo), Best New Performer (Dylan So); 18th Asian Film Awards: Best Actor (Lau)²
Visual style	Shot in a nearly square 4:3 aspect ratio, which Yung said was meant to simulate a home-video viewing experience³^•¹⁰

Spoilers

Plot

Nin Yuen (Lau) is the middle-aged owner of a 24-hour cha chaan teng, a Hong Kong-style café, in Tsuen Wan. One evening his fifteen-year-old son Ming kills his mother and younger sister. Diagnosed with acute schizophrenia, Ming is remanded to a psychiatric prison indefinitely until full recovery. Nin visits his son twice a month and otherwise continues a quiet, solitary life, while memories of his wife preparing breakfast, his son playing computer games, and his daughter caring for the family's calico cat keep returning to him. Unable to hate the living or forget the dead, he tries harder than ever to act like a "papa," and hopes that one day Ming, his sole remaining family member, will come home again.²^•¹¹^•⁵

Source case and production

In his director's statement, Philip Yung wrote that thirteen years had passed since he decided to adapt the real case of Kwan Kai-leung, a fifteen-year-old who killed his mother and sister in Tsuen Wan in 2010, and that during early research he met the tragedy's central figure, the boy's father.⁵ The production received the support of the real case's father, according to the filmmakers.⁶

Yung had previously directed the acclaimed Port of Call (2015), also based on a real Hong Kong killing, and produced the box-office hit The Sparring Partner (2022).³ Production companies included Golden Scene and the Film Development Fund of Hong Kong; Amy Chin served as executive producer.¹¹^•⁴ The film was made with support from the Hong Kong government's film financing framework, and both Dylan So and Lainey Hung appeared on the 2024 list of Hong Kong new performers for their roles in it.¹²

Style and reception

The film cuts between timelines in a non-linear structure that reviewers described as mimicking the disorganized pieces of Nin's memory, with changes of lens, depth of field, and color used to signal where and when the story is.¹⁰^•¹³ Yung chose the 4:3 aspect ratio to simulate watching a home video, making the audience feel like voyeurs peering into Nin's recollections.¹⁰ Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave it 4 of 5 stars, calling it a psychologically complex tale of unconditional family love narrated around an impossibly macabre twist.³ Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Lau "perfectly encapsulates a character who faces horrific challenges with utter stoicism, although you can sense that he's burning inside."¹¹ Reviewers were divided on the film's structure: Wendy Ide of The Observer gave it 2 of 5 stars, calling the turn toward a countdown to the attack a wasted opportunity, while Cath Clarke of The Guardian gave it 3 of 5 and praised Lau's naturalistic performance.¹¹ On Douban the film held a rating of 7.5.⁶

Release and awards

After its October 31, 2024 premiere in the competition section of the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival, the film screened as the closing film of the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival on November 10, 2024 and opened theatrically in Hong Kong on December 5, 2024.¹^•⁷ It later opened in Taiwan (January 3, 2025), Ireland and the United Kingdom (February 28, 2025), Singapore (March 6, 2025), and Malaysia (June 12, 2025), with a mainland China release scheduled for June 27, 2026.¹^•¹⁴^•² It screened as a special presentation at the 24th New York Asian Film Festival in July 2025.⁹

At the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2025, Lau Ching-wan won Best Actor, his fourth win in that category, Jo Koo won Best Supporting Actress, and Dylan So won Best New Performer.²^•¹⁵ Lau also won Best Actor at the 18th Asian Film Awards, where Dylan So was nominated for Best Newcomer.²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2023 and 2024 › Titles O to Y

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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