Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

japrice-26876 This film is definitely a powerful and engaging movie. I did not find it to be a happy type film. It was more of a sad film worth watching as it shows how disorganized and terrible China is as a Country. The director showed all the facts by addressing them in a straightforward manner. The film is based on true events. Dearest tells the heartbreaking story of a divorced couple losing their three-year old son in the coastal city of Shenzhen and the ordeal of searching for him. But, it is not just a child abduction story. The film shows the mass amounts a child abduction present in China, along with female abductions. The two parents eventually find their son three years later on a farm with the women who's husband had kidnapped their child 3 years prior. They have a hard time taking him back from the family, but they eventually succeed. However, the child does not remember who they are and has grown to think the abductors were his biological parents, along with a sister who was "found" by the abductor. The police get involved and the parents who had their son kidnapped get their boy back, with his assumed sister put into an orphanage and the abductors wife is thrown into prison. 6 months late the abductor gets out of prison and tries to get the children back because she has grown to believe that they were her real children through the lie that her dead husband had told her about going to adopt the child and supposedly finding the little girl. The abductors wife tries to get help from old workers of her husband who have fled to Shenzhen, but they ignore her because they would be looked upon as inferior if they associated with a farmland poor person. She eventually tries to hire a lawyer and he is reluctant at first but eventually sees the extent to which this women will go to get her assumed child back. In the end she does not and finds out that she is pregnant with the baby of a man who she offered sex with for help.

fezhang-56830 we watched "dearest" during our globe perspective class. I have heard that's a sad movie, but I did not cry as much as I thought I would, perhaps because I'm yet a parent myself. But I can definitely feel for the parents who lost their kids. This film has various characters where the different groups of audiences will be able to relate with. This film touches me, heart, first, and then make you think again. Think of questions that we will usually assume about the abductors. That how most would abduct to make the kids beg for money, that the kids will be suffering and pining for their real parents.

Elinor I learned a lot from watching this Chinese film. I had never really heard about child abduction in China, since we do not hear about that problem there, but not only does it happen there, but it can happen anywhere. This film was unique in that, it was about a real story and events, but some parts of the film were added. This film is about a couple who lose their child, and find out that he was abducted. Peng-Peng(the little boy ) decided to wander off on his own after playing with a few of his friends, and saw his mother in the car driving away, as soon as that happened he was taken. Once Peng-Peng's dad found out that his son was abducted he panicked, and Peng-Peng's mother felt guilty, which is later explained in the film. Both of Peng-Peng's parents decided to join a group that involved people who have gone through the same situation, and they try to help families by making them feel better about their current loss, and also find ways to find the children of the families, by disguising themselves as a tour group, but often times it did not work out. It takes a while for Peng-Peng to be found, but when he is he did not recognize his parents, since he was very little when he was abducted, therefore he wanted to go back to the woman who abducted him. The only thing I did not like about this film was the end. It seemed to be very unclear and was a bit confusing. Based on this reasoning, I would rate this film a 4/5.

Kicino Dearest's trailer is sensational, showing all kinds of crying faces and I was not looking forward to see it. But I like Peter Chan, Wei Zhao and Bo Huang. So I went anyway. Well, I cannot say I like it but I think it is worth watching as it shows how disorganized and terrible China is as a country. And I think the director has presented all the facts in quite an objective way.Based on true events, Dearest tells the heartbreaking story of a divorced couple losing their three-year old son in the coastal city of Shenzhen and the ordeal of searching for him. Yet it is not simply a child abduction story, through the story of Tian Wenjun (Bo Huang) and Li Hongqin (Zhao Wei), we realize that child abduction is widespread in China, as with woman kidnap, and the heartless scam of people tricking parents of the kidnapped kids, and the ridiculous policy of allowing parents to have a second child only after proving their first child is dead. What the movie did not show is what the abductors do to the children – be it training them to be thieves, or sedating them to be beggars, or child labors, or child prostitute, or selling them overseas or to parents who cannot have kids … More depressing truths.But what it shows is already thought-provoking and disheartening. I cried quite a number of times. For a child, it is sad enough being taken away from your family. But what is sadder is being taken away from another family again and could not recognize your birth parents. Wei Zhao is brilliant in portraying a desperate, innocent but determent mother from a remote village who descends to the southern city of Shenzhen to look for her son. Her motive is pure and noble but the complex situation, including her husband's lies has put her in some pathetic situation. It is appalling that this is based on a true stories as at the end credits, we see pictures of the original parents, the farmer, the abducted child and the support group of parents losing their children. Very impressive but sad because these abductions are still happening every single day. Another thought is, with such vast geography and disparity of wealth, the quality of the people are incredibly low. So low that they often resort to physical violence to solve problems – even outside the courthouse! We heard about these abductions in the news and on the net but this is the first time I encountered these on the big screen. Looking around us, so what if you have your kid in safety in China, you need to shop around for reliable formula milk powder that is safe. That explains why Chinese are snatching up formula milk from supermarkets all over the world from Japan to Germany, let alone Hong Kong. Life must be very tough if you were born and being raised in China. There is no system, or if/when there is, it is inhuman and unreasonable, not to mention the widespread corruption that hinders justice. Under this kind of system, it seems it would be hard to nourish caring, rational and reasonable human beings who looks beyond money and short term profit. The ripped off paralegal Gao Xia (Dawei Tung) sums it up well though awkwardly in the movie: if people would consider others' point of view this country would have been so much better. They have just forgot/ignored Confucius' Golden Rule. How ironic. A great glimpse into the terrible life in China.