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Bao- short film before Incredibles 2 😬

67 replies

Mandiew2 · 02/08/2018 22:58

Today I went to see Incredibles 2 with my 5 year old and we were both really disturbed by the short film Bao beforehand. The story is about a woman who makes a Dumping that turns into a baby dumpling with a face. She nurtured and raises the dumping as her child until he is about to leave home and then she suddenly kills him by eating him! My son was horrified!!! Tonight he has had knightmares about it. Has anyone else seen it and have had a little one upset? I felt it was very inappropriate for a film which will be viewed by very young children who won’t understand the symbolism of the story only the betrayal of the mother to kill her child without warning! Interested to hear others experience and to prepare others who may be taking young kids x

OP posts:
MakeLemonade · 02/08/2018 23:55

I liked it and I don’t think it’s any worse than the Incredibles which was much scarier than I thought it was going to be!

NotUmbongoUnchained · 02/08/2018 23:58

Asian mums! I’ll be the same with my kids Grin

Zhx3 · 03/08/2018 00:58

mollymawk, the concept of filial piety is very strong in Chinese culture - it is moving with modern times but I would think still runs through many families and helps to explain the obligations on the parents and the child in Bao. I've just done a quick Google but this article is quite easy to read.

usernameismyusername · 03/08/2018 01:10

It was weird. I felt sorry for the bao. My son was like 'she just ATE her kid?!'

PhilODox · 03/08/2018 01:22

I definitely gasped audibly when she ate the bun-baby!

Not sure many of our audience got it, tbh.

LadyCassandra · 03/08/2018 02:18

I was on my phone when this came on so missed the middle of it. I actually thought the mum was boy, so obviously missed the point completely! Blush
DS9 and DS6 didn’t seem bothered so they probably didn’t get it. Incredibles 2 was brilliant though!

JemAppelleLafayette · 03/08/2018 02:48

Sorry, it is a PG certified film, there was things in the main feature that were much more scary. I don’t think I agree, OP.

NotWeavingButDarning · 03/08/2018 02:58

Oh, I loved it and am not in any way a crier but I did get a tear in my eye at the end.

DD (7) understood the basic premise but was unmoved Grin

gabsdot · 03/08/2018 08:37

I laughed my head off at the bit where she ate the baby dumpling. I wasn't the only one laughing either.
My kids were hissing at me to stop laughing as I was embarrassing them.
I thought it was hilarious and it's a sweet little film about the sadness of loosing your children as they grow up.
However I get that a 3 year old might be freaked out.
In saying that I thought the actual incredibles 2 film wasn't really suitable for young children. The story was complicated and there was a lot of dialogue. I'd pitch it at 10+.

BarefootHippieChick · 03/08/2018 08:47

I loved it, so did my dc, although they are a bit older. I thought it was better than the Incredibles, which was boring and just way too long for my liking.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 03/08/2018 09:06

I hated it.

Lightroom · 03/08/2018 09:17

I'm with Jem. Incredibles 2 was a PG-Cert film, so the programming's not going to suit all very young children.

My ds was 3 when The Incredibles came out years ago. He HATED 'Boundin' (the Pixar short shown before TI), and was terrified by the sheared sheep for ages. But he was 3 and it was a PG, so that's my responsibility.

My other ds and I talked for ages about 'Bao'. It was weird and interesting, and it really made us think.

Tfoot75 · 03/08/2018 09:30

I saw it with my 5 and 2 yo and loved the short film. My 5yo was maybe slightly bemused but I explained she ate the dumpling not the boy. I loved it for the bittersweet message but mainly coz it was visually stunning animation like coco, so much detail. By the way both of mine loved the film and barely moved during it, even my 2yo. My 5yo loves fairy tales and the turn of events in Bao is no more bizarre than eg red riding hood so I think children are usually well used to stories that don’t echo real life!

kenandbarbie · 03/08/2018 10:08

Thanks for the heads up! I might go and see it next week so now I know how to explain it to my ds. I think I'll be like that when they grow up. I sometimes just want to bite them coz they're so gorgeous to me!!!!!! Rarrrrrr squidgy baby

EyeDrops · 03/08/2018 19:13

I was confused. I understood the metaphor of over-protectiveness, and feeling like she was losing him - but the bun confused me! What actually happened when she 'ate' the bun? And the way it popped into life on her plate, like, no she must have been pregnant and given birth?! I just don't think the bun metaphor worked for me!

VanillaSugar · 03/08/2018 20:50

The mother loves cooking. Her dishes are her creations. Her child is her creation. She also likes to eat and when the son/bun rejects her Chinese banquet, she eats the lot to suppress her emotions. That's why she eats the bun. She eats when she's stressed. She's an emotional eater.

She finally bonds with the fiancée when she realises the girl can make better dumplings than her son.

MrsChollySawcutt · 03/08/2018 20:59

I think we all get the point of the story VanillaSugar. But it's very much an adult context of mother/son/son's partner relationships and bound to go way over the head of any child. They will just remember the dumpling boy being eaten by his 'mother'.

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Mandiew2 · 03/08/2018 21:58

My point entirely- reading the thread it is generally the ADULTS who liked it rather than the kids and yes we all generally get the symbolism as adults but young children are not and beyond my 5 year olds comprehension. All he internalised was Baos ‘mother’ cared and loved him and then suddenly out of the blue kills him. My view is that it is an adult film not for kids

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OuEstPierreLapin · 03/08/2018 22:03

Went with DS7 yesterday. I thought it was beautiful. Was shocked at the eating bit but then by the final act had joined up the dots. I think it's great that kids aren't spoon fed plots.

DS was more surprised by the intermission and guys selling ice cream half way through.

OuEstPierreLapin · 03/08/2018 22:06

And this. This. This is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen before a film. More disturbing than the short...

Joinourclub · 04/08/2018 09:28

Intermission?! Where did you watch the film? The 1950s?!

OuEstPierreLapin · 04/08/2018 11:47

Joinourclub

Ulverston in the Lake District! The wean thought the film was over and started getting his coat on. Then the guys with the ice cream trays came out. It was like going back in timeSmile

Bao- short film before Incredibles 2 😬
swimchick1980 · 04/08/2018 19:33

Went with my 4 yo today and there were floods of tears at Bao!! It was very loving but confusing for a child to understand the dumpling is a metaphor. Definite gasps when she ate him in the cinema from adults and children alike!

worriedupstairsneighbour · 04/08/2018 19:55

The writer of Incredibles 2 responded to this on Twitter by saying the film isn't actually for children. The first one came out 14 years ago, I can't believe it!

MrsTerryPratchett · 04/08/2018 20:06

I loved it. So did DD (7). But she's used to Studio Ghibli type girl-is-fish films. Symbolism is really important in art and all the focus on reading and writing have we forgotten about imagination and metaphor?

We also just listened to the original Rapunzel with the prince with scratched out eyes and she seemed unfazed!