VIFF -- Review: We Are All Strangers

One of two wedding scenes in We Are All Strangers

We Are All Strangers (2026)

This film with seven Golden Horse nominations is the third in the trilogy by director Anthony Chen who also wrote and produced this drama about a father and son and how divergent their lives are despite living in the same social housing flat in Singapore.

Father Boon Kiat (Andi Lim) is a hardworking, humble cook who makes bowls of noodles at his hawker stall. His wife died 10 years ago, while his wayward son Junyang (Koh Jia Ler) doesn't know what he's going to do after completing mandatory military service, and refuses to help his father out, believing it is too lowly a job for him.

Tensions between Bee Hwa and Junyang

Instead Junyang romances an academically-minded girl called Lydia (Regene Lim) in senior high school, whose mother is a teacher and expects her to go to university. However, things go awry when Lydia gets pregnant and wants to keep the baby...

Meanwhile Boon Kiat has his eyes on Bee Hwa (Yeo Yann Yann), a "beer auntie" who sells beers to customers at the hawker centre. She is desperate to find a place to live after her boyfriend ran off with her savings which results in her having to stay with her younger brother's family.

The relationship between Junyang and Lydia is fast and intense, whereas Bee Hwa slowly develops a fondness for Boon Kiat, who has wanted to be with her for a long time, but is patient and kind, which she reciprocates.

Early on Bee Hwa remarks Singapore is so wealthy, but she isn't. It's a theme played throughout in We Are All Strangers, a fictional snapshot of characters near the bottom of society struggling to stay afloat.

Seven Golden Horse nods

The only character that isn't fully developed is Lydia, which is a pity because viewers may find it hard to understand what she sees in Junyang, and how she sees her life now that it has gone from privilege to struggle because of him.

Nevertheless director Chen's We Are All Strangers is a kind of winding morality play over two and a half hours: what happens when you don't work hard, don't know what you want to do with your life, or the consequences of not listening to your father's advice. 

We Are All Strangers

Directed by Anthony Chen

157 minutes