POPCORN REVIEWSS

At its deepest core, How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is an emotional ride. In fact, it is a tear-jerker that made me reminisce about my grandma that I lost 7 years ago, and the time that we spent together almost every weekend and during my holidays. There are something about grandparents who often treat you as their own children, often siding with you against your parents or offering so many stories to share from their personal experiences. Yet when it is time for them to leave, you seldom realise that almost nothing that fill that void which they have left behind. And same was the case with my grandma whom I dearly miss, but then life does go on! And here too, there were quite a few relatable plot-points that I will touch upon in this section.

The opening sequence of the family celebrating the Qingming Festival (a traditional Chinese Festival to mark the start of spring wherein families clean the tombstones of their loved ones) was an early indicator used by the writers to prepare the viewers of the inevitable, even as you see their celebration cut short by a fall following which the character of the grandma, Mengju is admitted to the hospital. From the body language of the folks present, you can make out that the only concerned individual was Mengju’s daughter while the others simply wished to stack up the attendance, show their care and leave. This included Mengju’s grandson M, a carefree Gen-Z who is a university drop out and an aspiring video game streamer who remains largely unaffected even after getting to know that grandma is diagnosed with a grade 4 stomach cancer. The only thing that he soon finds himself seemingly interested in is the inheritence money of grandma that forces him to be her carer.

The proceedings are engaging but not instantly emotional given that the foundation of the drama is laid on greed as a part of M, who soon starts taking care of Mengju. But this can also be looked from the gaze of a coming of age tale that slowly transitions into something warm and heartfelt. One of the purpose of Mengju is to be buried on a big plot given that the same would be able to accomodate her entire family even as they may have a reunion after her death. This sentiment of hers stems from the fact of loneliness that has troubled her ever since her children left her home, while being busy with their respective lives and following the death of her husband. In a moving scene, Mengju exclaims that the worst part about her life is just after a festival wherein she is left with the leftovers in the fridge that she needs to eat all alone, a sentiment that almost has a repulsive feeling with respect to her psyche so much so that she sees her dead parents in her sleep calling her to be with them (implying that death was near for her). This, even as M is reminded of being scared of being haunted in his childhood, a very important detail that is connected towards the end.

M, on the hand acts as a silent support for Mengju consciously and subconsciously while forming a beautiful bond with her, helping her with the household chores or her little congee shop, or even buying her a new pair of shoes. This, even as he is witness to a little family tussle regarding his uncles – one who only cares about the money and the debt that he finds himself in, and the other who just portrays himself as responsible while eyeing the soon-to-be-vacant house of Mengju. There is a genuine deluge of emotions given how common these practices are, something that really saddened me. The heavy emotional weight of the drama is often balanced by some charming moments that act as momentary reprieves in a drama that is grim, even as you know which way the drama is headed. But every now and then, you see the emotional core of the drama taking control over your senses, be it a scene between Mengju and her daughter, wherein the former exclaims that the only person that she will miss is her (ph, heartbreaking), or another scene with M and his mother wherein the latter reminds him that money and property isn’t important to her and that she does take care of Mengju because she really cares for her.

I secretly wished to delay the inevitable even as I knew where the drama was headed, but surprisingly, the main event wasn’t focused as much (and in a good way) while focusing the energies on the characters around Mengju along with her dying wish of having a big tomb for herself, for which she was denied money by her own brother (whilst all her savings were stolen by her son). Yet in a beautiful scene, you see the character of M realising the wealth that his grandma had left for him (having saved bit by bit since his childhood showcased in a wonderful little reminiscent scene) – the one thing that he had always aimed for. But the realisation of wanting grandma to be around him was now a priority, something that he couldn’t do anything about. And hence in a moving scene right at the hand, you see him laying flowers on her grave but only partially, almost wanting to be haunted by her (a custom that says if you don’t lay flowers properly on the grave, the spirit would haunt you). The screenplay here is so emotional that you may barely any emotions by the end of it, even as the feeling of being hollow stays with you long after the film has ended. Alternately, you may also shed tears in a drama that is emotionally heavy and so universally relatable.