Overview
A family's bonds are tested as they navigate the harsh realities of crime and expectations.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- melancholic
- brooding
- intimate
- quiet evening
- serious movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Chung Mong-hong's nuanced moral drama as a powerful, visually masterful work of contemporary Taiwanese cinema.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
A-Ho's crime, A-Wen's rejection, A-Hao's idealized status, and Qin's compassion create a deliberately balanced emotional and ethical landscape.
The film's natural motifs and title image counterbalance its violence, grief, secrecy, and domestic suffering.
A-Wen invests his hopes in introverted eldest son A-Hao while treating younger son A-Ho as irredeemably problematic.
A-Ho's juvenile detention, his friend's involvement, and Xiao-Yu's pregnancy turn a criminal act into a sustained family crisis.
Films like A Sun, and why
Yi Yi
family tragedy, moral ambiguity, psychological depth, and carefully observed domestic relationships
A Brighter Summer Day
taiwanese family drama, adolescent alienation, crime-adjacent social realism, and layered emotional storytelling
Shoplifters
intergenerational family conflict, quiet emotional devastation, and naturalistic domestic observation
Burning
crime drama fused with family melodrama, moral complexity, and a contemplative visual style
Movie Details
- Director
- Chung Mong-hong
- Release Date
- 2019-11-01
- Runtime
- 156 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (272)
Cast
- Chen Yi-wen
- Ko Shu-Chin
- Wu Chien-ho
- Apple Wu
- Greg Hsu
- Liu Kuan-ting
- Ivy Yin
- Wen Chen-ling
- Lin Chih-ju
- Lung Siu Wa
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Sun about?
- A fractured Taiwanese family confronts crime, favoritism, grief, and the possibility of compassion beneath years of emotional silence.
- What is A Sun like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Sun as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Sun violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in A Sun as moderate.
- What did critics think of A Sun?
- Critics broadly praised Chung Mong-hong's nuanced moral drama as a powerful, visually masterful work of contemporary Taiwanese cinema.
- Which films are like A Sun?
- Films with a similar feel include Yi Yi, A Brighter Summer Day, Shoplifters, and Burning.
- How long is A Sun?
- A Sun runs 156 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Sun?
- In United States, A Sun streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
