Review | Good Autumn, Mommy movie review: Shu Qi anchors gritty Chinese rural drama

Shu Qi stars as an impoverished woman who believes her newborn was taken from her in Good Autumn, Mommy, set in rural Guangzhou in 1995

Reading Time:2 minutes

Bai Ke (left) and Shu Qi in a still from Good Autumn, Mommy (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Chen Shizhong.

Published: 6:15pm, 17 Dec 2025

3/5 stars

Two years after its premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival, first-time director Chen Shizhong’s rural drama Good Autumn, Mommy finally makes it to Hong Kong screens, arriving at an auspicious time for leading lady Shu Qi.

The year 2025 has proven to be a banner one for the beloved Taiwanese actress, who earlier made her directorial debut with the semi-autobiographical Girl. She also starred in Bi Gan’s ambitious avant-garde epic, Resurrection, as well as spearheading the Netflix drama series The Resurrected.

Set in 1995 in the sugar cane fields of Guangzhou, Good Autumn, Mommy follows peasant farmer Fong-tai (Shu) as she gives birth during a violent typhoon, only for her baby to become mixed up with that of her husband’s boss, Kang-ren (Zhang Benyu).

The dilapidated shack in which Fong-tai and Kang-ren’s wife, Lan-san (Lang Yueting), give birth side by side collapses during the storm, spilling both mothers and their babies into the nearby sacred pond.

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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Shu Qi stars as an impoverished woman who believes her newborn was taken from her in Good Autumn, Mommy, set in rural Guangzhou in 1995

Shu Qi stars as an impoverished woman who believes her newborn was taken from her in Good Autumn, Mommy, set in rural Guangzhou in 1995