A GOOD CHILD (好孩子) (2025)

Genre: Drama
Director: Ong Kuo Sin
Cast: Richie Koh, Hong Hui Fang, Johnny Lu, Charlie Goh, Cheryl Chou
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: M18 (Mature Content)
Released By: GV & Clover Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day:  9 October 2025

Synopsis: A GOOD CHILD weaves a compelling narrative around Jia Hao, a drag queen who, after years of estrangement, returns home to care for his mother Ju Hua, who has been diagnosed with dementia. What begins as a dutiful obligation swiftly transforms into an unexpected opportunity for healing. With quick thinking, Jia Hao takes on the role of his mother’s long-lost daughter a tender yet unconventional deception that paves the way for a heartfelt journey of reconnection, acceptance, and self-discovery.

A GOOD CHILD is adapted from the life story of Christopher Lim 林同利, more commonly known for his drag alias – Sammi Zhen 阿真, a full-time drag queen in Singapore

Movie Review:

Dementia is scary, not just for the individual losing awareness of his or her surroundings and eventually memories of the past, but also for the individual’s immediate family thrust with the burden of caregiving. What is equally, if not more, scary is coming to terms with the past that has been clouded by misgivings, misunderstandings and even betrayals, made worse because they have been left to fester over time.

‘A Good Child’, from director-writer Ong Kuo Sin, deftly weaves both subjects into his tender, poignant story of a drag queen, Jiahao (Ritchie Koh), who returns home to care for his bereaved mother (Hong Huifang) following the death of his father. Drag queens have been the centre of Ong’s previous two films – Number 1 and Number 2, both anchored prominently by Mark Lee – but his latest, based on the true story of real-life drag performer Christopher Lim (alias Sammi Zhen) is by far the best of them for so many reasons.

Much has been said about Ritchie Koh’s revelatory performance here, which earned the MediaCorp artiste a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Actor; and we can hand on heart say that it is no fluke. Koh is truly extraordinary in the role, starting off the movie playing Jiahao with campy insolence, before slowly revealing layer by layer the anger, pain and indignance he has been carrying within for many years, and finally laying bare his own search for identity and belonging all this while.

Credit too must go to Ong, who details with care and nuance, just what drove Jiahao away from his family, what led to his spitefulness, and how he eventually lives up to be the titular good child. Koh calibrates Jiahao’s transformation over the course of the movie beautifully, saving perhaps the gut punch for the last act, when his mother reveals a secret that challenges his very understanding of family. It is heart-wrenching to say the least, and we watched with absolute awe how Koh disappears into the role with such ease and confidence.

Koh is also supported by a brilliant ensemble. Hong has probably played a variation of her role here in other MediaCorp dramas over the decades, but her unassuming performance is all the more emotionally devastating – besides Jiahao, her character also eventually comes to terms with what she has been harbouring all along, and you can feel her raw anguish onscreen as she comes to terms with how her actions could have influenced Jiahao’s upbringing as well as her husband’s stern rejection of Jiahao’s effeminate behaviour when he was young.

As Jiahao’s boyfriend David, Taiwanese-American actor Stanley Lu is also splendid. Content to let Koh have the spotlight, Lu nonetheless shines in a restrained supporting role as Jiahao’s pillar of strength and support through and through. Without resorting to any histrionics, a scene which sees Jiahao’s mother give both of them her support for their marriage is truly affecting, and testament to how subtle yet powerful Lu’s portrayal has been.

In lesser parts, both Charlie Goh and Cheryl Chou as Jiahao’s elder brother and sister-in-law also lend grounded performances that further reinforces the movie’s verisimilitude. For the former, the choice between career and taking care of his mother is what forces him to confront what filial piety is; ditto for the latter, who confesses right from the start that she does not have what it takes to look after her mother-in-law in her current state.

Never mind the occasionally uncomfortable moments when Koh goes full drag on stage, ‘A Good Child’ is at its heart a sobering portrait of so many things at once. It is about the very real burden of caregiving; it is also about letting go, finding the courage to embrace family once more and the willingness to forgive, because reconciliation is at the end the better path to choose; and last but not least, it is about who we are, whether in terms of gender, sexual orientation, and just as fundamentally, a brother and a son (or daughter).

Than say anything more, we urge you to go see, experience and reflect on ‘A Good Child’ for yourself. It is, we dare say, one of the very best local movies we have seen in a long while, certainly one of the most tender, touching and affecting ones ever. Don’t be offput by its subject matter (of drag queens); this is as beautiful and moving a mother-child tale as it gets, anchored by one of the most talented young actors by far in Singapore, and it is our sincere hope that every Singaporean supports this local production we should all be proud of.

Movie Rating:

(Heartfelt, poignant and deeply moving, this story of filial piety, identity and reconciliation is one of the most beautiful local movies ever made)

Review by Gabriel Chong