Ling does not seem satisfied with life - indeed, it is roughly half-way through 'Wet Season' before we even see her smile. She is obsessed with having a baby, but her husband does not seem similarly interested, preferring to go out drinking with clients instead of attending Ling's fertility sessions. At home, Ling has to spend a great deal of time looking afer her invalid father-in-law. Even her job teaching Chinese at a boys' school is considered by the school's authorities as less important than other subjects. But when she starts giving remedial lessons to Weilun, one of her pupils, life takes a more interesting - if troubling - turn.
The plot is not original (right down to the sex scene, which contains a troubling 'when a woman says "no", she really means "yes"' aspect). But the film being set in Singapore means it is unusual for European audiences, with unfamiliar elements such as wushu (a sort of gymnastic martial art) and never-seen-before fruit and vegetables!
Within the confines of their roles, Yann Yann Yeo as Ling makes for a fairly sympathetic central character and Jia Ler Koh's Weilun is a fresh-faced hero. This film certainly is not one that I felt was a waste of my time, but given the predictableness of the plot and the limitations of the characters - particularly Weilun, of whom we never learn enough - I doubt it will linger long in the memory. But for what it was, I enjoyed it. Seen at the 2019 London Film Festival.
The plot is not original (right down to the sex scene, which contains a troubling 'when a woman says "no", she really means "yes"' aspect). But the film being set in Singapore means it is unusual for European audiences, with unfamiliar elements such as wushu (a sort of gymnastic martial art) and never-seen-before fruit and vegetables!
Within the confines of their roles, Yann Yann Yeo as Ling makes for a fairly sympathetic central character and Jia Ler Koh's Weilun is a fresh-faced hero. This film certainly is not one that I felt was a waste of my time, but given the predictableness of the plot and the limitations of the characters - particularly Weilun, of whom we never learn enough - I doubt it will linger long in the memory. But for what it was, I enjoyed it. Seen at the 2019 London Film Festival.