McDull fails at everything and knows it, but keeps showing up anyway. That quiet refusal to break is the whole thing. The film doesn't celebrate him for trying; it just lets you sit with a kid who loves his mother more than he loves being good at life, told through the gentle mess of Cantonese wordplay and Hong Kong corners that only make sense if you're from there. A story about small people in small moments that somehow contains everything about growing up poor and loved.
McDull is a simple kid with big-hearted intentions and not much in the way of brains. While his mother nurses dreams of his brilliance, McDull stumbles through childhood armed with nothing but determination and a stubborn wish to please her. Years later, now grown, he looks back on those years and tells a string of stories from his youth. They range from a turkey dinner to his dream of following in the footsteps of Lee Lai-shan, and through them all runs his relationship with a mother who is both demanding and devoted. The humor lives in the gap between her ambitions and his reality, sharpened by playful Cantonese and plenty of local Hong Kong culture. McDull's refusal to give up keeps this comedy film warm as well as funny.
