Film Review: OMG! Mom's Big News (OMG！阿媽有喜) (2025) - Malaysia
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 6/10
Rating: ★ ★ ★
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The Lunar New Year film is a genre unto itself, a cinematic firecracker demanding broad laughs, copious tears, and a final, reassuring embrace of family against all odds. Malaysian Director Ernest Chong’s debut feature, “OMG! Mom's Big News”, understands this assignment perfectly. It delivers the required festive payload with a premise that genuinely surprises: what happens when the family matriarch, the seemingly settled Rita (Anita Yuen), drops the bombshell at 53 that she’s unexpectedly pregnant? It’s a setup ripe with potential for both slapstick chaos and profound domestic reckoning, and Chong’s film gamely attempts both, landing somewhere between heartwarming triumph and frustrating near-miss.
The film’s undeniable anchor, its gravitational center keeping the occasionally wayward narrative from spinning into orbit, is Anita Yuen. As Rita, Yuen achieves that rare alchemy: she is entirely believable. There’s no movie-star glamour obscuring the fluster, the fear, the sheer physical absurdity, and ultimately, the dawning wonder of her situation. Her performance is grounded, earthy, and laced with a weary comedic timing that makes even the most predictable pregnancy gags – the sudden, desperate craving for pungent Asam Laksa being a prime, hilarious example – land with authentic charm. She makes Rita’s impossible choice feel palpably human. When the film slows down to breathe, particularly in a beautifully underplayed scene where Rita’s husband (the reliable Chan Fong) navigates the emotional minefield with their understandably flabbergasted adult children, “OMG! Mom's Big News” finds its true, moving voice. These moments resonate because they feel earned, tapping into universal anxieties about aging, responsibility, and the shifting sands of family roles.
Chong and his writers deserve credit for choosing such a provocative and underexplored topic, especially within the context of modern societal pressures and declining birth rates. It’s a fresh angle for the holiday season, promising a deeper dive than the usual reunion shenanigans. Yet, this is where the film begins to show its seams. After a promising first act crackling with the shockwaves of Rita’s news, the screenplay struggles to maintain its momentum or depth. Subplots sprout like weeds – most notably the son’s half-hearted musical ambitions – only to be hastily trimmed or forgotten entirely. Character motivations, particularly among the supporting players, can feel frustratingly thin or, worse, veer into the territory of the deliberately unlikable without sufficient exploration. The pacing suffers, the middle stretch feeling less like a journey and more like marking time between set pieces.
“OMG! Mom's Big News” ultimately feels like a safe bet for its intended festive audience. It delivers the required warmth, the expected tears (mostly earned by Yuen), and the reassuring family hug finale. It doesn’t pretend to reinvent the Lunar New Year wheel, and its reliance on broad, almost YouTube-sketch-like humor in places may alienate viewers seeking a more consistently sophisticated dramedy. But for families seeking a "light and easy" outing celebrating familial bonds, warts and all, it largely succeeds. Just be prepared to forgive its stumbles, overlook the blatant commercials, and appreciate the genuine heart beating at its center, courtesy of Anita Yuen’s wonderful performance. It’s respectable, occasionally touching, often funny, but frustratingly shy of being the truly significant film its premise promises. (Neo, 2026)
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