Ilo Ilo

2013

1h 39m

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

78%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

A hardworking mother (Yann Yann Yeo) becomes jealous of her rambunctious son's (Koh Jia Ler) close bond with his nanny (Angela Bayani).

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Critics Consensus

Quietly compassionate and rich in detail, Ilo Ilo is a strikingly mature debut from writer-director Anthony Chen.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Succinct, handheld camerawork and deft performances amplify the drama's emotional clout.

Rated: 4/5

May 3, 2016

Full Review

Kate Muir

Times (UK)

Ilo Ilo deals with that perennial dilemma of the middle-class working parent: how to deal with the live-in nanny who begins to usurp your role.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 1, 2015

Full Review

G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

Chen builds his case not with sentimentality and obvious plot points, but through everyday life -- showering, doing laundry, dropping the boy off at school, phone calls.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 21, 2014

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

With a sense of subtlety, Chen synthesizes a moving portrait of a Singaporean family that, at its intimate core, dialogues about the economic crisis and interculturality of a country in transition towards globalized prosperity. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Nov 8, 2023

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

For those who would prefer a more intelligent and authentic family and social drama, this is a film to not be missed.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 11, 2020

Full Review

Casey Chong

Casey's Movie Mania

Poignant, funny and heartbreaking, Anthony Chen's feature debut in "Ilo Ilo" is a true gem of a Singaporean drama.

Rated: 5/5

Apr 14, 2020

Full Review

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isla s

This film didn't entirely appeal to me. I had (perhaps wrongly) thought/hoped it would be an uplifting film about a maid who strikes a friendship with the seemingly dysfunctional 'challenged' young son. Its quite a sad film in terms of showing the clear strains the family have and I couldn't see much in the way of particular themes or messages this film brings across, until the very end. It was somewhat touching, what happens right at the very end but for the most part this film is rather bleak in tone and doesn't have a whole lot going for it, although the acting is decent and perhaps it is a little insightful, it was just a bit bleak and without much of a solid, gripping plotline, I didn't think it was too good overall. All in all, its ok but no more really.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

watched it as it was highly rated. But I felt the movie development was blend. Didn't exactly felt like there was any climax in the movie.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

nefasto r

"Ilo Ilo" is a humanistic and sociological portrait of a a Singaporean family, with an handful of well written and well acted characters, and the simplicity of the story will leave you all the time you need to put the focus on these flawed family in difficult economic times.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I like this movie, such a strange feeling

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

***UNBELIEVABLE TASTE... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER! ***

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ilo Ilo, the story of a Filipina maid hired to care for the spoiled child of a Singaporian family may be difficult to get through in the first moments as the child's behavior is so unpleasant, but this powerful story about a crisis-ridden family during the 1998 Asian financial crash comes though with flying colors. Ilo Ilo is the first full-length feature for Singaporian director Anthony Chen and the interview with Chen and comments from the cast in the extras on the DVD is worthwhile. Ilo Ilo is not a "localized" movie as one cast member pointed out. It is not an "Asian" film or a "Singaporian" one; it is about family life and the reality of it, the struggles, the tension, the goings on behind closed doors. Ilo Ilo is about human relations, the day-to-day existence under pressure that is common to humanity. It is about class, struggles at work and the sacrifices workers in poor countries and communities make to feed their families and their own children by looking after the children of others. One cannot help being reminded of the brutal conditions Filipino and other maids have endured working for the wealthy in Saudi Arabia and other countries although there is no such comparison here. It is somewhat autobiographical as Chen himself was raised by a maid from the age of 8 to 12 and he points out that by far, these experiences for the children of working parents are more often than not positive ones. The cast, from the maid played by a well known Filipina actor to the boy and the parents, are real people living their lives as so many families do. The scene with the maid washing the young boy in the shower and the interplay between them, I am not sure they would have been the same if Ilo Ilo was an American made movie. We are known to blurr butt cracks here in the US, even of 10 year olds. This is a wonderful, powerful film that will not be contained by borders, nationality, language or other social obstructions. It is however in Mandarin and Tagalog so the viewer is faced with subtitles which will unfortunately, along with limited circulation as there's not enough explosions and violence in it, mean millions of Americans will never see this film. If we want to "Make America Great Again" it might help if Americans watched more movies like Ilo Ilo.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Anthony Chen

Director

Koh Jia Ler

Jia Le

Angela Bayani

Terry

Yann Yann Yeo

Hwee Leng

Chen Tian Wen

Keng Teck Lim

Peter Wee

Discipline Master

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Synopsis

A hardworking mother (Yann Yann Yeo) becomes jealous of her rambunctious son's (Koh Jia Ler) close bond with his nanny (Angela Bayani).

Director: Anthony Chen
Producer: Anita Kuan, Gina Lau, Ivan Tan, Leong Sze Hian, Ng Aik Hock
Screenwriter: Anthony Chen
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 14, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $46.5K
Runtime: 1h 39m

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