Ahead of Abang Adik‘s appearance at the 97th Academy Awards, here is everything you need to know about the critically lauded Malaysian movie.
As we enter the fourth quarter of 2024, it is once again Academy Awards selection season, with the next iteration of Hollywood’s most glamorous evening set to take place on March 3rd of next year. Malaysian cinephiles have especially more reason than before to catch the upcoming award show, as it has been announced that the beloved 2023 local feature film Abang Adik will be in the running for Best International Feature Film.
The news broke cover through a statement issued by the National Film Development Corporation (Finas), after a series of evaluations conducted by the organisation’s Film Selection Committee from among a clutch of other eligible candidates.
Other regional titles submitted in the same category include Cambodia’s Meeting With Pol Pot, Indonesia’s Women From Rote Island, the Philippines’ And So It Begins, Thailand’s How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, and Vietnam’s Peach Blossoms, Pho, and Piano.
Abang Adik: Everything to know about the film representing Malaysia at the Oscars, from plot to awards
Upon receiving a nationwide release in Malaysia on 14th December 2024, Abang Adik witnessed one of the biggest local cinematic releases that year, with box office raking in RM5.2 million during its 24 days of screening. Moreover, the film was also noted for being the first Malaysian title to rake in box office figures amounting NT$90 million (RM13.5 million) in Taiwan in just three weeks.
Written and directed by Perak-born filmmaker Jin Ong, Abang Adik represented his feature film directorial debut after serving as producer on a string of other movies, including the much-lauded Malaysian-Taiwanese co-production Miss Andy.
Chronicling the lives of two undocumented orphans living in the underbelly of Kuala Lumpur’s poverty line, the movie stars Taiwanese actor Wu Kang-ren as the deeply compassionate and protective Chen Ah-bang, and Jack Tan as the indignant, rebellious Zhang Wen-di.
With kismet bringing both men together as young teenagers, Chen Ah-bang went on to take the role of Zhang Wen-di’s surrogate older brother, going above and beyond to fight for their survival on Kuala Lumpur’s often unforgiving streets by taking up odd jobs to support their livelihoods. On the other hand, Wen-di, growing up angry and resentful towards a society that he feels has turned its back on the downtrodden, opted to dabble in a world of criminal designs in hopes of earning a one-way ticket out of his destitute circumstances.
Principal photography began on June 1st 2022 and featured several prominent Kuala Lumpur locales, with Pudu serving as the film’s primary backdrop. Shot with a budget of $653,000, Abang Adik became a commercial success after bringing in a total box office revenue of $3.48 million.
A layered story that delves into the complexities of typically taboo topics in Malaysian society, ranging from statehood, poverty, to morality, further added to the film’s poignant quality that succeeded in winning audiences and critics over. So much so in fact that it led to Abang Adik receiving a total of seven nominations at the 2023 Golden Horse Film Festival, with Wu Kang-ren winning Best Actor that year.
It was subsequently entered in three categories at the 2023 Fribourg International Film Festival, nabbing the Audience Award for Best Feature Film.
If you’ve yet to catch the film in theatres, Abang Adik is now available to stream on Netflix.