UNEXPECTED FAMILY (过家家) (2026)

Genre: Drama
Director: Li Taiyan
Cast: Jackie Chan, Peng Yuchang, Zhang Jianing, Pan Binlong, Li Ping
Runtime: 2 hr 1 min
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 January 2026

Synopsis: Zhong Bufan (Peng Yuchang), a broke tenant struggling to make ends meet in the city, never imagined his life would take such a bizarre turn — when his elderly landlord, Ren Jiqing (Jackie Chan), mistakes him for his long-lost son! With no savings and nowhere else to go, Bufan ends up stuck under the same roof with a hilarious bunch of oddballs — Su Xiaoyue (Zhang Jianing), a drifting tenant with her own dreams; Jia Ye (Pan Binlong), a middle-aged "slash" housing agent who thinks he knows everything; and Jin Zhengu (Li Ping), the nosy but warm-hearted neighbour who treats everyone like family. They're not related by blood, but fate — and cheap rent — bring them together. Between Ren Jiqing's unpredictable memory lapses, endless mix-ups, and bursts of fatherly affection, Bufan's life becomes a rollercoaster of laughter, chaos, and touching surprises... until he discovers the old man's secret that changes everything. 

Movie Review:

With age, Jackie Chan has struggled to redefine himself as an actor, and up until last year’s gripping ensemble thriller ‘The Shadow’s Edge’, had either failed to recapture the glory of his heydays (with both ‘A Legend’ and ‘Vanguard’ being outright flops) or languished in forgettable roles that riffed on his heydays (think ‘Ride On’ or ‘Panda Plan’ that rode on Jackie being Jackie). In that regard, Jackie’s latest as an elderly man struggling with Stage 2 Alzheimer’s Disease (otherwise known as senile dementia) is a rare departure from his recent roles by being a purely dramatic part, and to his credit, Jackie imbues his character Ren Jiqing with genuine pathos.

As the title implies, the movie is about the ragtag group of individuals which rally around the elderly Uncle Ren during this period. There is Su Xiaoyue (Zhang Jianing), a young female tenant working as a health supplement promoter who is given a meagre backstory of having run away from her parents for treating her like an ATM; there is Jia Ye (Pan Binlong), a middle-aged businessman who runs his own car servicing workshop and who has no qualms being a grifter trying to con odd-job labourers to work for peanuts at his workshop; and last but not least, there is Jin Zhengu (Li Ping), the elderly neighbour who despite her nosiness cares deeply for Uncle Ren.

When a young man Zhong Bufan (Peng Yuchang) shows up at Jia Ye’s workshop looking for work, the latter takes the opportunity to also offer him a tenantship at Uncle Ren’s apartment, precipitating a case of mistaken identity when Uncle Ren thinks of Bufan as his long lost son Zhuangzhuang. It doesn’t take much to guess that Uncle Ren has had an estranged relationship with his son Zhuangzhuang, and that he longs to be reunited and reconciled with the former World Men’s Youth Weightlifting champion. Without giving too much away, let’s just say it is only at the end of the movie that we find out why Zhuangzhuang had left all those years back and never returned, and the truth is surprisingly heartbreaking.

It is all the more disappointing then that ‘Unexpected Family’ is only fitfully engaging throughout the rest of its two-hour duration, let down unfortunately by newcomer Tai’s inability to find the right balance between comedy and drama. One moment Bufan is diving into the back of a rubbish truck in a frantic attempt to retrieve his belongings that Ren had disposed of, and another Bufan is at the bank fending off two bank security guards while trying to trick Ren to give him a handsome sum from the latter’s retirement savings account. Both are no doubt played up for laughs, but done in such exaggerated fashion that it comes off farcical.

These are interspersed with excessively maudlin moments that often come up cringeworthy. One such scene has Ren rush to the front of an abandoned train station with a dated ticket from years ago, in the hopes that Zhuangzhuang will be returning on the next train home, and refusing to leave despite the pleadings of Jia, Xiaoyue and Auntie Jin; and let’s just say there are a lot more of such scenes in the second half of the movie when Ren’s condition takes a turn for the worse after almost drowning while diving into a pond to try to save Bufan.

All throughout, Jackie is a consummate professional. Not only does he give each scene his best, Jackie also brings out the best in his fellow actors; that is especially so for Peng, whose role as Bufan sadly lacks a compelling backstory and is only defined in regards to holding up the pretence of being Ren’s long-lost son. Tai and his co-writer Lv Zhuo also do short shrift with the rest of the supporting characters, but given how central the father-son dynamic is to the premise, it is especially glaring how little we know about where Bufan came from before stumbling onto Ren and therefore how generous Jackie’s performance is in drawing out the best from Peng.

Contrary to its title, ‘Unexpected Family’ ultimately holds little surprise. You know despite initially approaching it as a job that Bufan will eventually come to embrace Ren as his own kin; ditto the rest of the bunch of oddballs of this makeshift family. You know too that the truth behind Ren’s estrangement from his son probably has to do with how he had imposed his own ambition upon Zhuangzhuang to win the world’s men weightlifting championship. And you know that the denouement will be bittersweet, with Ren’s makeshift family coming together to recreate a pivotal feel-good moment from his past in order to inject some much-needed joy in his twilight years.

Comparisons with our very own ‘A Good Child’ are somewhat inevitable, given how both deal with the difficult subject matter of elderly dementia; and yet, we dare say that Ong Kuo Sin movie is so, so much better. It isn’t that Jackie doesn’t try his best, and in fact, it is only because of his larger-than-life presence that ‘Unexpected Family’ is still watchable; pity that whatever pathos he brings to the role is lost in a tonally uneven, cliched and even cringe-worthy comedy drama. If there is a silver lining, it is that Jackie has genuine dramatic chops, and we hope as he continues to age that he will find new tailwinds as a serious actor as he had always hoped to. 

Movie Rating:

(Jackie Chan injects genuine pathos into his character of an elderly father struggling with regret and dementia, but the rest of the movie is a tonally uneven, cliched and even cringe-worthy comedy drama)

Review by Gabriel Chong