Reviews Singaporean Reviews

Film Review: Not My Mother’s Baking (2020) by Remi M Sali

“Not My Mother's Baking” by , similarly to “Konpaku” (2019), the debut feature of this Singapore-based director, explores the territory of intercultural and interfaith relations. However, while “Konpaku” was using the elements of horror, this time the mood is entirely different. We get a rom-com combined with a light-weighted family drama and… lots of mouth-watering delicacies. Remi M Sali made use of his experience gained during working on TV culinary shows like “Cinta Kek” or “Delicatessen” to implement some tasty content and a thread of video productions dedicated to foodies and gormandizers.

“Not My Mother's Baking” is Screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

Sarah is still looking for the perfect recipe for her life. Trying to figure out what she wants, the girl is in constant “between” of jobs and projects. Her biggest passion is baking, but it's not an easy task to step out from under the shadow of her mum, a respected celebrity chef, and owner of a cooking school, who has always been too busy to pay her daughter enough attention. Sarah now tries to run her own web series on making desserts and pastries. In an attempt to distance herself from the parent and find her own voice, she humorously underlines that it's “not her mother baking”. She shoots the show with the professional help of a vlogger, Edwin, whom she met through a common friend Imran. Despite initial squabbles, in an appetizing process of recording the tidbits' recipes, she and Edwin start to be sweet on each other. But Sarah also has a soft spot for Imran…

The typical love triangle arc is absorbingly complicated with cultural and languge issues. Sarah is from a Malay Muslim family, while Edwin's folks are Taoist Chinese. Parents expect Sarah to find someone like Imran, a nice and well-mannered (read: boring) Muslim boy. Edwin folks want him to bring home a good Chinese girl, who will help to run a family food stall at a food court. Religion-cultural clash brings food into the equation, as the specialty of Edwin's parents is roast pork, and for Muslims, pig meat and dealing with it is forbidden and considered unclean. Apart from that in the background, we have a portrayal of Singapore's eclectic and rich food culture of its diverse society, with the additional local spark as Sarah and her mother are played by real-life celebrity chefs mother and daughter duo. Unfortunately, the cunning idea of showing cultural differences through diet taboos doesn't find satisfying execution.

From the very first scene, we know which boy Sarah will marry. Because of that, there's no element of doubt in the narrative. Two hours of run time is too long for a story with a familiar ending, rather lukewarm humor, and some naïve scenes like Imran vs. Edwin kindergarten-like food fight. Characters seem a bit too flat (especially Sarah's brother) and their relations lack complexity. Also in the depiction of faith-related tensions the story just slides on the surface.

Edwin needs to convert to Islam to marry Sarah, and it is shown so nonchalantly as if dropping off the religion one was brought in and embracing a brand new one was a casual thing like switching the mobile network provider. His family's reaction to a sudden change in his “spiritual” life is mostly narrowed to childish jokes on his circumcision, and his own reflections on the subject are depicted just as a humorous vlog post on how to deal with post-operative pain. We never see Sarah and Edwin discussing matters like his conversion or in which faith they are going to bring up their kids. There is, however, an interesting scene at the Islamic center with a female mentor leading Edwin through the conversion process. As far as I know, Singapore is the only country to allow women to conduct conversion sessions for males, though I am afraid that most of the non-Muslim audience won't notice that there's anything out-of-the-box about the moment. But attempt to break stereotypes on both sides and showing a wedding ceremony combining traditions is worth a praise.

Food nonetheless is the true star – from sweet custards, through coconut pancakes and complicated cakes to the roasted pork (I totally craved for a crispy piece from Edwin's family stall). And a subplot of a feisty Edwin's sister trying to take over the family business instead of her brother got me engaged more than Sarah's romantic dilemmas.

About the author

Joanna Kończak

I graduated in the field of cross-cultural psychology, what made me curious of the worlds far outside my backyard. Hence you may meet me roaming the Asian and European sideways as I love travelling, especially solo. Have been watching movies since I remember, and I share the same enthusiasm for experimental arthouse as well as glittering blockbusters and the filthiest of horrors. Indian cinema became the area of my particular interest. Apart from being a frantic cinephile, I devour piles of books. As I have been working in the publishing house known for children’s books (and even authored a couple of toms) for over a decade, I became quite successful in hiding the dreadful truth: never managed to grow up.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

>