CNY 2025: 7 Films to Get You in the Mood of the Season
Press play

There’s a lot of work that goes into planning the perfect Chinese New Year celebration. From deciding on the reunion dinner destination to decorating the house with red accents and shopping for new fits, this is the season when the labour of love is unmistakably felt. So spending quality time with your family after the festivity winds down is crucial, and nothing feels better than sprawling across the living room with your loved ones, enjoying a good movie together. That is why we have curated seven of the best films you need to put on the screen for a wholesome wrap-up to the day.
YI YI BY EDWARD YANG
Piercing in its dissection of kinship ties yet compassionate in its approach, Yi Yi makes for a sobering watch for Chinese New Year. The film contemplates the notion of purpose as it examines the lives of a Taiwanese family throughout the year. Edward Yang, using the phlegmatic patriarch NJ as his vessel, captures the dances of destiny as we know it. He instinctively weaves the film with moments when families come together and fall apart—from a wedding to a funeral.
THE FAREWELL BY LULU WANG
A little white lie goes a long way especially when the deceived is nearing the end of the road. Lulu Wang’s The Farewell is a tearjerker that sees the beauty in bereavement; the grief that binds us together. The film follows Chinese-American Billi whose homecoming to Changchun is marred by devastating news about her grandmother. Determined to fill her last moments with joy, the family, much to Billi’s dismay, decides to keep Nai Nai in the dark about her imminent passing.
US AND THEM BY RENE LIU
This one is for the star-crossed lovers who are searching for some solace. Us and Them is a decade-spanning love story that narrates the intertwined lives of Lin Jianqing and Fang Xiaoxiao. After crossing paths on their way home for Chinese New Year, the pair embarks on a beautiful yet bumpy romantic journey before drifting apart. But, as luck would have it, they are reunited years later and questioned if they are now able to show up for each other in the ways they need.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB BY WAYNE WANG
Chinese New Year brings a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with your elders, but sometimes dissociation that arises from generational gaps is inevitable. But, as they say, where words fail, films speak. The Joy Luck Club speaks to the very experience via its protagonists. Adapted from Amy Tan’s best-selling novel, the film chronicles the lives of first-generation Chinese-American women and their mothers, who regularly convene at the mahjong table and trade stories.
CHILDREN OF INVENTION BY TZE CHUN
Another unforgettable tale about the immigrant experience unfolds in Tze Chun’s raw and realistic Children of Invention. A 2009 Sundance breakout hit, this award-winning semi-autobiographical feature shines the spotlight on the undiscussed casualties of the inequitable system—the children. Here, siblings Raymond and Tina are forced to navigate life on the outskirts of Boston on their own when their hardworking mother, Elaine, runs into trouble with the authorities.
THE WEDDING BANQUET BY ANG LEE
Looking for something light-hearted but still with a lot of soul? Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet may be just the ticket. Placing a Taiwanese-American man with a rainbow heart at the centre, this razor-sharp dramedy deals with the themes of family expectations and traditional values. The film takes off when Wai-Tung Gao arranges a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman to keep his parents at bay. However, chaos erupts when they descend upon New York for the wedding.
CHUNGKING EXPRESS BY WONG KAR-WAI
No Chinese New Year watchlist is complete without a Wong Kar-Wai classic. One of the gems in the director’s filmography is Chungking Express. Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung as two lovelorn Hong Kong cops, the romantic dramedy kicks into gear upon a chance encounter at the Midnight Express take-out food stand. There, an eccentric waitress in a mischievous pixie, played Faye Wong, stands behind the counter, unknowingly changing their trajectories.
Find more culture reads, click here.
SHARE THE STORY | |
Explore More |