By As someone approaching 40 who has yet to find a partner or father a child, I have some conflicting feelings about the prospect of parenthood. While I fully understand that I do not need to fulfill some societal checklist to be considered an adult, I also feel as if I’ve failed some kind of basic requirement for being human. Isn’t it natural to want a wife and kids? Isn’t having a child supposed to be the very goal of human existence? After watching Montages of a Modern Motherhood, I have to wonder if maybe I’m not strong enough to actually become a father.
Written and directed by Oliver Chan, Montages of a Modern Motherhood isn’t explicitly a condemnation of its namesake, but it can often feel that way from its oppressive atmosphere and sometimes nihilistic look at life. This is a film where, over the span of nearly two hours, you’ll see a poor mother get put through the wringer and told she needs to fall in line with women of the past simply because that is what women do. They don’t have ridiculous dreams like holding a job or having outside interests! Their life is children and nothing more!
There’s more going on under the hood here, but instead of me trying to dance around a summary or whatnot, let’s just dive right into things.
Montages of a Modern Motherhood
Director: Oliver Chan
Release Date: April 24, 2025 (Hong Kong), July 16, 2025 (NYAFF)
Country: Hong Kong
Montages of a Modern Motherhood follows the struggles of Suk-jing (Hedwig Tam), a new mother who is going through a spat of postpartum depression. Living in her mother-in-law Mei-Fung’s (Janis Pang) apartment with her husband, Wai (Siuyea Lo), Jing is trying to juggle not only her obligations to her newborn daughter, but her job at a bakery and her interests as a human being. The Wikipedia page’s cast list actually puts things into perspective by listing her husband as “clueless and insensitive,” which drives a majority of the conflict throughout the movie. As if you couldn’t already tell from the title, this isn’t a happy or cheery movie where being a mother is depicted as the noblest thing a woman can do.
Based on experiences that Oliver Chan had when she became a mother, Montages of a Modern Motherhood is more of an examination of modern Hong Kong culture rather than a specific story. I could lay out a series of events in the film, such as Jing arguing with her husband, getting into fights with her mother-in-law, struggling to get her child to stop crying, and even suffering from clogged milk ducts that cause her physical pain, but that’s not the overall point of the film. This is a movie meant to open a discussion about how women are treated in Hong Kong, but told through a more universal lens.
As I explained to my mother after watching the movie, there’s a particular scene towards the last act where Jing goes to her mother, played by Patra Au, and questions if she is good enough to be a mother. She asks if her mother ever had regrets and if she is sad over losing the person she once was. That’s at the center of Montages of a Modern Motherhood, as Jing constantly feels like her life is being ripped away from her as everyone in her life is seemingly looking down on her for not being a traditional woman. Her mother-in-law even criticizes her for having feminist views such as “wanting to work” and “dreaming.”
© No Ceiling Film
It’s really the atmosphere of the film that works so effectively to sell everything. This is possibly the most brutal film I’ll see in 2025, as when I reached the credits, I was just sad. I fully understand the point, and I do hope some societal change comes out of this, but it can be a tough watch for those not prepared. Even if you are prepared, it’s still agonizing to hear Jing’s daughter crying so often and watching as everyone else in the room with her seemingly blames her for it.
There’s a quote in the above-linked Deadline interview with Oliver Chan that really sticks out to me. “Before becoming a mother,” Chan explains, “when I saw naughty babies or those who can’t stop crying on the subway, I used to really judge the mothers but now I understand it’s really out of our control.” The movie certainly conveys that, with Hedwig Tam selling the desperation that comes from moments when your child seemingly refuses to cooperate. She gives a truly incredible performance here, I can’t state that enough.
One scene that really got me is somewhere in the middle of the film. Jing is out in a public park with her child in an attempt to calm her and not disturb the neighbors, and she just snaps. There’s no physical violence, thank God, but she yells at her baby for not cooperating. It escalates until Jing realizes what is going on, and she becomes mournful. As she crumbles into tears, I felt my heart rip in two, and I started to cry along with her. Montages of a Modern Motherhood truly paints a canvas of agony and despair for women in modern society.
© No Ceiling Film
Now, one of the biggest complaints from Hong Kong-based reviewers is that the film presents a one-dimensional view of its topic. There are few moments of levity throughout, and it’s not like Jing and her husband never share joy with one another, but I also wouldn’t call this movie uplifting. I’m not even going to sit here and try to prove those claims wrong because my initial gut reaction was to apologize profusely to my mother for even existing. The thing is, that agonizing atmosphere is intentional.
I don’t believe that Oliver Chan wrote Montages of a Modern Motherhood to condemn men or claim that motherhood is a horrid experience. I also don’t think she believes that the traditional conservative views of Hong Kong are the way to go. My interpretation of this story is that it highlights a failing of Hong Kong’s society that needs to change. By the end of the film, it almost seems as if Jing has given up on her hopes and dreams, and that is supposed to make you feel guilty. I know in my own life, I’ve taken advantage of my mother’s kindness without even meaning to, because even American society ingrains in us that mothers aren’t worth much more than caring for children.
Interestingly enough, I would actually compare Montages of a Modern Motherhood to last year’s Nightbitch. While that film is based on a fantastical novel and deals with a woman becoming a literal dog at night (hence the title), it also touches on the societal pressure modern women face when becoming mothers. It’s certainly more optimistic than this film, but its call to action to actually treat the women in your life with respect isn’t nearly as strong as Oliver Chan’s effort. I felt somewhat guilty after that film, but now I want to change my entire life because of this one.
© No Ceiling Film
Suffice it to say, Montages of a Modern Motherhood is riveting when it homes in on its central thesis. There are certainly elements I could criticize, such as the sometimes-generic direction or its rare usage of flash-forwards that don’t seem to add up to anything, but that feels mean. For a movie that effectively conveys the struggles of womanhood in the 21st century, I would consider this a must-watch for anyone who doesn’t quite feel ready to jump into parenthood. Maybe it will scare you away, but you should instead focus on the systemic and cultural failings that allow a situation like this to occur. This might be a Hong Kong-specific story, but the underlying story is universal enough to reach anyone.
