Former EXO member Lay Zhang is back on the big screen, this time as the male lead in Mumu, and has already garnered a big, emotional response from audiences. The film premiered in China on April 4, scoring a solid 7.0/10 on Douban (Chinese movie rating website), with growing positive reviews online.
Lay Zhang stars as Xiao Ma, a deaf single father relying on his young daughter, Mumu, to connect with the outside world. Their quiet life is disrupted as Mumu’s mother reappears with promises of a better future than Xiao Ma can offer. At the same time, Xiao Man gets unwillingly entangled with a criminal organization that exploits the deaf community.
Mumu is directed by Sha Mo (沙漠), known for his well-loved 2017 high school romance, My Huckleberry Friends. Sha Mo participated in the 2021 reality competition show, Action, where upcoming directors wrote and directed short films from scratch. During the competition, Sha Mo and his team created the first iteration of Mumu. In a later interview, Sha Mo shared, “After creating the short film, I spent another two years communicating with different hearing-impaired people and listening to their stories.” That short film was eventually adapted into the full-length feature we see today.
The film’s Chinese title directly translates to “Voiceless Love.” Sha Mo explained, “There needs to be something larger than a short film to show people the world of the hearing impaired…Being seen is the first step to being understood.”
Mumu is not only a poignant look at the hardships and prejudices faced by China’s marginalized deaf community, butit’s also a deeply moving portrayal of a father- and- daughter bond. One RedNote user shared, “My friend and I used up two boxes of tissue during the movie.”
Are you ready for this tearjerker? Mumu lands in North American theaters on April 18, so be sure to grab your tissue box (or two!)s and catch it on the big screen!
Cover image via Facebook/This is LAY.
