FOLLOW AUNTY LA (AUNTY 当网红) (2025)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Mayiduo
Cast: Mayiduo, Charlene Huang, Xixi Lim, Regina Lim, Sai, Cayydences
Runtime: 2 hr 8 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References & Coarse Language)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment and Double Up Media
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 27 June 2025

Synopsis: Ah Hua (Charlene Huang) is a humble owner of her family’s small Fishball business, her life revolving around being a loving wife and running the market stall together with her husband. When her husband cheats on her with an influencer, BBGirl (Regina Lim), and her heirloom business is snatched from under her, she seeks revenge by trying to become a famous influencer. Taking up a challenge from BBgirl to out-shine her and win everything back, with the help of her best friend CC (Xixi Lim) and short-tempered, has-been cinematographer Hock (Mayiduo), she struggles to become a social media influencer in the age of TikTok. Every time she comes close to giving up, Ah Hua sees visions of the ancient founders (Cayydences) of her fishball business, urging her to push on. As the deadline to BBGirl’s challenge approaches, Ah Hua eventually realises that the key to happiness might just lie in being true to herself.

Movie Review:

If boomers and Gen X form the core of Jack Neo’s fanbase, then it’s safe to say that millennials and Gen Z are the staunch supporters of influencer-turned-filmmaker Mayiduo’s movie debut.

Directed and co-written by Mayiduo, Follow Aunty La follows Ah Hua (Charlene Huang), a fishball seller who’s unceremoniously dumped by her deadbeat husband (Sai) after he reconnects with an old classmate now turned hotshot influencer BBGirl (Regina Lim). To reclaim her 300-year-old Teochew fishball business, Ah Hua is forced to enter a livestream selling competition or risk losing even more money to BBGirl.

With the help of her best friend and fruit stall seller CC (Xixi Lim), and a former cinematographer with anger issues, Hock (played by Mayiduo himself), Ah Hua has only days to transform from a complete social media noob into a livestream queen with killer sales skills.

For better or worse, Follow Aunty La plays out like a typical Jack Neo Chinese New Year flick. It’s no surprise, since Neo’s JTeam is credited, suggesting he may have lent a hand behind the scenes. All the usual Neo trademarks are here: loud and zany characters, crying fits, meandering plot, heavy use of dialect and plenty of product placements which Mayiduo thankfully pokes fun at.

To be fair, crafting a five-minute TikTok skit is a whole different beast from making a full-length feature. What works in short bursts doesn’t always translate to a two hour runtime. Still, it’s not entirely Mayiduo’s fault, veterans like Neo and Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Jing have long struggled with these same issues.

Follow Aunty La takes almost an hour to truly get going and even then, the plot takes several detours. The film’s funniest moments come from Ah Hua’s hilariously clueless attempts at gaining followers, CC’s dementia-suffering grandma who’s always ready with a slap and Hua’s ancestral spirits (played by @Cayydences) who appear to offer life advice from the beyond.

Unfortunately, the movie is bogged down by filler content like a pointless PK battle with @theJianHaoTan and some awkward fourth-wall-breaking jokes that feel misplaced and unnecessary. There’s even a melodramatic, Jack Neo-style finale that is out of place in what’s meant to be a dramedy about influencers and livestreaming culture.

That said, if you’re here to spot cameos from a laundry list of local and Malaysian influencers—@ChiouHuey, @Tommyncb, @Simonboyyyyyy, @msqiwiie, @bertandlulu, Overkill, The Daily Ketchup and more—this film certainly delivers.

Credit where credit is due: Charlene Huang and Xixi Lim have great onscreen chemistry and do their best to elevate their characters beyond cardboard cutouts. As for Mayiduo’s acting, let’s just say he might want to turn the volume down a notch in his next role.

In the end, there’s not much more to say about Mayiduo’s big-screen debut. Despite being the creative force behind Follow Aunty La, the film doesn’t seem to have much to say about livestreaming or influencer culture. Worse, it ends up feeling like yet another Jack Neo co-directed and co-written affair. Maybe some of the blame lies with co-writer Link Sng (Long Long Time Ago) but either way, this debut struggles to stand out.

Movie Rating:

(A Jack Neo movie that is not done by Jack Neo, Follow Aunty La is a weak occasionally ticklish satire on the culture of live-streaming)

Review by Linus Tee