Pavane For An Infant (2025) NYAFF Review: Where Silence Cradles Life

Director Chong Keat Aun’s latest movie was the opening film at the 49^th Hong Kong International Film Festival and recently had its North American premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival on July 12^th.

In the heart of conservative Malaysia, the baby hatch is more than just a metal box or the practice of a mother abandoning their new born in a cradle at the designated center—it’s a symbol whispered about in shame, denounced by a growing wave of moral traditionalism that sees it as a gateway to societal decline. Yet within its quiet walls, Lai Sum (Fish Liew), Fatimah (Tan Mei Ling), Kam (Pearlly Chua), and Nurul (Jasmine Suraya)— dedicated staff at a Kuala Lumpur baby hatch—stand firm. Day by day, they confront stigma and resistance as they work to uplift women from all walks of life, each grappling with the deeply personal and often perilous journey of bodily autonomy.

One day, Lai Sum encounters Lam Siew-Man (Natalie Hsu), a Mass Communications student who is pregnant after being sexually assaulted by fake shamans. Torn between the weight of her unwanted pregnancy and the storm of her emotions, Siew-Man struggles against relentless waves of nausea while wrestling with the haunting shadows of her trauma, all while seeking the option of abortion.

Blending Cantonese, Malay, and English in an innovative style familiar from the director’s earlier works—such as Snow in the Midsummer, which premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival—this film deftly explores the intricate tapestry of Malaysian traditions set against a backdrop of contested cultural beliefs.

The film begins with a lullaby whose lyrics reflect traditional beliefs: “If you raise a son, he takes care of you when he grows up. If you raise a daughter, she belongs to others when she grows up.” Pulsing around the fragile heartbeat of the baby hatch—where, in Malaysia, a mother’s world narrows to a breathless 30 seconds: a fleeting window to reclaim her child before the door quietly closes on a lifetime of choices.

Lai Sum is a quiet employee working at this baby hatch facility, but is hiding a dark past. She is emotional and empathetic, yet efficient in handling even the most unexpected situations she faces.  At one point, she literally ends up eating in the bathroom since everyone else was fasting due to Ramadan.

As the friendship between Lai Sum and Siew-Man deepens, the two go to watch Hiroshima Mon Amour in a theatre, and somebody covers the projector with their palm. This casts a looming shadow of the palm across the screen throughout the opening shots of the film, triggering an unwelcome reaction of the assault memories within Siew-Man, who begins hyperventilating after running out of the theatre. Lai-Sum follows her and calms her down as she cries on the bathroom floor.

On their way back, they come across an ancient ceremony called Mun Yue, celebrating a baby’s 30^th day. In a brief exchange with the baby’s aunt, she explains that within Minangkabau culture, women hold inheritance rights—a matrilineal tradition. She shares that her sister is fortunate to have given birth to a daughter, while she, by contrast, gave birth to a son. What follows is a mesmerizing dance sequence where performers glide across fragile plates, shattering them beneath their feet in a striking display of grace and defiance.

Eventually, Sister Lai-Sum’s past is revealed, and the fake shaman practitioners are caught red-handed in a carefully orchestrated plan, involving anaesthetic elements and police detaining. 

The movie opens and ends with the line: “Heaven lies under the feet of mothers.” 

Fish Liew and Natalie Hsu embody Lai Sum and Siew-Man with a quiet intensity—like gravity in still water, their performances pull you in without ever raising their voice, leaving a resonance that hums long after the screen fades. Through their quiet interactions filled with emotional nuances, the friendship between an older woman and a student during turbulent times is played well by both lead actors.

This film is not for the faint-hearted as it involves elements of rape, abortions, pregnancy-related medical care, projectile morning sickness and other such scenes. But there is no doubt that Chong Keat Aun’s story is a tale that rings true all over the world, as the rate of mothers abandoning their newborns willingly or unwillingly– only seems to have increased in today’s society.