‘BA’ Screamfest Review: A Flawed but Poignant Film
When I was mapping out my Screamfest review coverage, Ba immediately stood out to me. The idea of a single father moonlighting as the Grim Reaper isn’t a setup you see very often. But the unorthodox theme is fairly well-executed here. Setting aside some of the picture’s shortcomings, Ba is an emotional tale of love and loss that kept me engaged until the final frame.
The film follows Daniel (Lawrence Kao), a professional dancer who has been unable to take on work due to a major leg injury. He’s barely scraping by, and he and his precocious daughter, Collette (Kai Cech), are living out of their car. When Daniel happens upon a mysterious duffel bag full of cash (complete with an ominous warning about the cost of accepting the contents of said bag), he takes the money in the hopes of providing greater stability for Collette. But the tradeoff is that he must claim souls as the Grim Reaper until his monetary debt is paid back eleven-fold.
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The father/daughter relationship at the core of the narrative is well-handled and touching. Their struggles are likely to be relatable to anyone who has ever been in a tight spot and unable to provide for a loved one. Both Lawrence Kao and Kai Cech turn in realistic performances. Their love for one another always reads as entirely genuine, raising the stakes a great deal. I found myself getting a little emotional a couple of times throughout, which is a testament to the actors’ skills.
There’s definite talent behind the camera as well. Writer and director Benjamin Wong crafts a poignant narrative that effectively chronicles the unbreakable bond between a father and a daughter. His screenplay demonstrates a keen understanding of how to elicit an emotional response on the cheap. The proceedings are stripped down, which makes the story easier to tell on a budget. But the lack of frills also magnifies what’s at stake for the two leads. Daniel and Collette really only have each other. So, if they lose one another, they lose everything they hold dear. That’s pretty powerful.
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My chief complaint about this often-impressive script is that the narrative draws a parallel that doesn’t quite hold water. Daniel reads Collette ‘The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs’ as a bedtime story. The moral of that fable has certain similarities to the core takeaway here but with one key difference: Daniel isn’t driven by greed. He is driven by desperation and the desire to keep his daughter safe. The film is more about the lengths to which a parent will go to protect their offspring than the evils of greed. Daniel doesn’t take the duffel bag because he wants it all. He just wants to feed his little girl.
The parallel would have been more effective if Daniel had taken the bag so he could shower Collette with extravagant material possessions, rather than put food on the table. However, that’s not exactly a fatal flaw, but rather a point of contention.
I have a couple of other minor qualms with the script. One is that the escalation with Collette’s foster father doesn’t feel well-justified within the narrative. When he is alone at the dinner table with Collette, her temporary caregiver goes from 0 to 60 without warning and there is no prior indication that he has a violent temper. That development suits the narrative because it shows that Collette is not as happy as she seems from the outside looking in. But the way it’s presented reads as a little too convenient.
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The final scene between Daniel and Sonny is also a little clunky. There was a chance to drive home the heartache Daniel is feeling at losing the only person in his life he holds dear aside from his daughter. But the way it’s presented feels rushed and tacked on. With that said, I think the film still works well enough, despite some missed opportunities.
All in all, Ba is a moving film that has me curious to see what Benjamin Wong does next. Ba marks a strong debut that stays grounded and never gets overly sentimental. I am rather curious to see what Wong might be able to do with a little more money.
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‘Ba'
Summary
‘Ba’ is a moving film with a touching father/daughter relationship at its core.
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