ReviewUnexpected Courage movie review: Rene Liu lacks agency in a flawed pregnancy drama
Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama
2/5 stars
Unexpected Courage sees an ambitious workaholic learn on her 45th birthday that she is pregnant and will need to be in hospital for the remainder of her term.
Drawing heavily from personal experience, Taiwanese writer-director Shawn Yu Shao-hsiang’s well-meaning but poorly conceived drama examines the conflicting expectations faced by women in today’s career-driven society.
In a performance that earned her a Golden Horse Award nomination, Rene Liu Ruo-ying stars as Le-fu, a successful talent manager in the midst of a media crisis who suddenly collapses and is rushed to hospital.
Despite an earlier operation that removed a portion of her uterus, the relentless career woman discovers she is four months pregnant. Her condition is incredibly unstable, however, and will require constant treatment – unless she wishes to terminate the pregnancy.
Le-fu’s long-term boyfriend, Po-en (Hsueh Shih-ling), is 12 years her junior and eager to keep the baby. She is less convinced, especially as her boss (Lee Lieh) has just offered her a promotion running the company’s Beijing office.