IFFR
Julian Chou’s Blind Love presents an affecting intersectional critique of patriarchal family structures, queerphobia, and the suffocating effects of societal expectations. Adapted from a short story by celebrated Taiwanese writer Essay Liu, originally centered on a daughter’s forbidden love with her father’s ex-boyfriend, Chou’s adaptation reimagines the narrative through a gender swap. By shifting the focus to Shu-yi (Ariel Lin), the film shifts its focus to highlight the societal pressures imposed on women and queer individuals within a relatively progressive place like Taiwan.
Original Title: 失明
Directed by: Julian Chou
Year: 2025
Country: Taiwan
Length: 145 minutes
Through precise framing, blocking, and a series of extended metaphors, the film gradually exposes the dysfunction beneath its characters’ facades. The inspiration behind the project emerged from Chou’s long engagement with the story, where diverse interpretations from readers sparked days of reflection, ultimately leading him to secure the rights and adapt the narrative for the screen.
The film opens with an unsettling close-up of a person undergoing under-eye surgery, pus seeping from the wound. This is the first of many metaphors in the film, literalizing discomfort and concealed damage, much like the family at its center. Feng (Frederick Lee), the successful surgeon husband, is obsessed with work and social standing in a capitalist society. His detachment shows in his clinical disregard for his own vulnerabilities, in addition to the way he remains emotionally distant from his children and indifferent to Shu-yi’s concerns. When she suggests moving her ailing mother into their home, Feng ignores her and instead fixates on superficial details such as her weight and appearance.
Their eldest son, Han (Jimmy Liu), is similarly trapped in Feng’s expectations. Having been accepted into the best school, Han is automatically expected to pursue medical school, with no room for personal choice or exploration. Rui, the younger child, begins to question the structures surrounding him and the emotional distance created by modern technology, showing a yearn for change that challenges the family’s oppressive status quo.
Queerphobia is deeply embedded into the family dynamic, representing the need to conform in this neoliberal capitalist environment. Feng dismisses marriage equality protests, framing queer people as fundamentally abnormal, while Shu-yi listens in silence, just as she does when Feng pressures Han into a predetermined future.
A shift occurs when Shu-yi meets a woman in a restroom at one of Feng’s high-profile events. The woman compliments Shu-yi’s lipstick, acknowledging that it serves as a form of camouflage, setting off a chain reaction of self-discovery. A kiss follows, leading Shu-yi to retrace her past and rekindle an old flame, Xue-jin (Ke-Xi Wu). In doing so, she reclaims a long-suppressed part of herself. At the same time, unbeknownst to Shu-yi, Han starts his own relationship with Xue-jin.
Through its dissection of familial structures, Blind Love reveals the weight of constant expectations. It shows the inner struggles of a family held hostage by the need to perform and societal pressure. With its fresh take on societal roles and a clear-eyed look at modern life, this film is well worth watching for anyone interested in a thought-provoking intersectional approach to what we lose when the upholding of status takes over our lives.
“Blind Love” premiered at the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam as part of the festival’s Tiger Competition.
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