Right, well of course I had not heard about this 2023 Vietnamese drama titled "Nha Ba Nu" (aka "The House of No Man") prior to getting a chance to sit down and watch it. And given my love and fascination with the Asian cinema, of course I opted to watch it without knowing anything about it. And on that account, then writer Hoang Ngoc Huyen Tran and director Tran Thanh had every chance to impress and entertain me.
While "Nha Ba Nu" started out as a fairly straightforward, if not actually somewhat generic, drama, then I will say that writer Hoang Ngoc Huyen Tran definitely managed to churn out something that was wholesome and entertaining. The storyline really steps up in intensity and entertainment value after about halfway through. "Nha Ba Nu" is a very enjoyable drama about several generations of the same family living together, running a business together and the problems that they individually struggle with.
I will say that I was genuinely entertained by director Tran Thanh's 2023 movie, because the storyline really offered a narrative that was easily delved into and you quickly and easily form attachments to the characters and their individual struggles. And writer Hoang Ngoc Huyen Tran really was good at setting the stage and building up the layers of the storyline, while letting the audience ride along with some great character development throughout the 102 minutes that the movie ran for.
Needless to say that I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in "Nha Ba Nu", but they had a great ensemble of actresses and actors for the various characters. It was good performances from the entire cast, and they brought their characters to life on the screen in enjoyable manners.
If you enjoy drama movies, then "Nha Ba Nu" is certainly a movie that is quite well-worth spending 102 minutes on watching. I was genuinely surprised with how writer Hoang Ngoc Huyen Tran managed to take the movie in a whole new direction after halfway through; and it was definitely for the better.
My rating of "Nha Ba Nu" lands on a six out of ten stars.
