Ilo Ilo (2014)
89%RT Audience Score: 78%
Awards & Nominations: 34 wins & 19 nominations
Quietly compassionate and rich in detail, Ilo Ilo is a strikingly mature debut from writer-director Anthony Chen.
Ilo Ilo” is like a Singaporean version of “Mary Poppins,” but with less singing and more emotional depth. The film explores the relationship between a middle-class family and their live-in nanny during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The handheld camerawork and everyday moments make the story feel authentic and relatable. Plus, the performances from the cast are top-notch, especially the young actor who plays the mischievous son. Overall, “Ilo Ilo” is a heartwarming and poignant film that will leave you feeling both happy and sad.
Production Company(ies)
Universal Pictures, Wing Nut Films, Big Primate Pictures,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Singapore
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2013
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):Mandarin, Tagalog, English, Hokkien
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Country of origin:Singapore
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Sep 23, 2014
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Koh Jia Ler, Angela Bayani, Yann Yann Yeo, Chen Tian Wen, Peter Wee, Jo Kukathas, directed by Anthony Chen, written by Anthony Chen, drama, $46.5K box office, reviewed by Tara Brady, Kate Muir, G Allen Johnson, Mark Jenkins, J.R Jones, Mark Kermode, Richard Propes, Casey Chong, Pat Padua, Robert Koehler, Janet Smith, John Lui, 100% Tomatometer, 78% audience score, Ann Hwee Sim producer, Yuni Hadi producer, MPAA rating N/A, hardworking mother, rambunctious son, nanny, jealousy, Singaporean drama, emotional, compassionate, rich in detail, mature debut, handheld camerawork, deft performances, middle-class working parent, live-in nanny, everyday life, semi-autobiographical story, vividly characterized domestic drama, sympathetic, engaging, intelligent, authentic, family, social drama, true gem, sad window, world economy, crisis, naturalistic performances, standard, benchmark
Worldwide gross: $1,234,100
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,567,737
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,483
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 170,964
US/Canada gross: $56,773
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $72,121
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,710
US/Canada opening weekend: $8,775
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $11,147
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,679
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Angela Bayani – Terry
Yann Yann Yeo – Hwee Leng
Chen Tian Wen – Keng Teck Lim
Peter Wee – Discipline Master
Jo Kukathas – School Principal
Director(s)
Anthony Chen
Writer(s)
Anthony Chen
Producer(s)
Ann Hwee Sim, Yuni Hadi, Anthony Chen
Film Festivals
Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
34 wins & 19 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (45)
Succinct, handheld camerawork and deft performances amplify the drama’s emotional clout.
May 3, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
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.
August 1, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
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.
August 21, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
The crowded compositions convey a sense of life in the dense Asian city-state, but also the intimacy of this semi-autobiographical story.
July 17, 2014 | Rating: 3/4
Mark Jenkins
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Anthony Chen, a Singaporean writer-director with a half-dozen shorts to his credit, makes his feature debut with this vividly characterized domestic drama.
May 22, 2014
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
This sympathetic and engaging drama is deceptively gentle in its insight – compassionate yet unsentimental.
May 4, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
For those who would prefer a more intelligent and authentic family and social drama, this is a film to not be missed.
September 11, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
Poignant, funny and heartbreaking, Anthony Chen’s feature debut in “Ilo Ilo” is a true gem of a Singaporean drama.
April 14, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Casey Chong
Casey’s Movie Mania
A sad window into a world economy that is still in crisis today.
August 31, 2018 | Rating: 3/5
Pat Padua
Spectrum Culture
The dynamics are just about perfect, and calibrated for a long chain of terrific scenes…
October 2, 2017
Robert Koehler
Cinema Scope
Carefully crafted and understated.
May 3, 2016
Janet Smith
Georgia Straight
All four of the lead actors, especially Yeo and Koh, deliver naturalistic performances of a standard that will set the benchmark for years to come.
May 3, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
John Lui
The Straits Times (Singapore)…
Plot
A hardworking mother becomes jealous of her son’s close bond with his nanny in the Singaporean drama “Ilo Ilo.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
All four of the lead actors, especially Yann Yann Yeo and Koh Jia Ler, deliver naturalistic performances of a standard that will set the benchmark for years to come.
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