The Age of Goodbyes

Drama

★ Shortlisted by Sharon

Programme: Special Presentations
Year: 2026
Runtime: 142 min
Country: Taiwan, Malaysia
Language: Mandarin / Thai / Malay / English / Cantonese
Premiere: World Premiere

Set in Malaysia, the film follows a young woman named Du Li An who falls in love with a man named Lin Sang in 1969 before he mysteriously disappears. Years later, after marrying a gangster and becoming stepmother to a teenage girl, Du Li An encounters a man who looks exactly like her vanished lover. The decade-spanning narrative blends elements of romance, mystery and coming-of-age storytelling.

From the TIFF programme

Vivian Sung stars as the ravishing Du Li An in a breathtaking cinematic adaptation of Li Zi Shu’s The Age of Goodbyes, a story about memory, loss, love, doppelgängers, and hidden truths.

Based on the award-winning novel by Li Zi Shu, Edmund Yeo’s The Age of Goodbyes is a multifaceted story about how memories are inherited through generations.

Jumping between different timelines, the film follows Kai (Troy Liu), a boy who finds a book called The Age of Goodbyes. The novel begins on page 513, a poignant reference to May 13, 1969, one of the darkest and most defining days in Malaysian history. As Kai reads, he enters the world of Du Li An (Vivian Sung).

In Ipoh in 1969, Du Li An falls in love with Lin Sang (Stanley Yau). He confides in her about a dark curse that plagues his family, then, shortly after, he disappears without a trace. Years pass, and Du Li An finally moves on, until one day Mong Sang (Stanley Yau) appears before her — and he is the spitting image of her unforgettable love. The more Kai turns the pages, the more he uncovers the ties between himself and those in the book.

Once considered unfilmable, the story’s non-linear timeline could make it challenging to follow. But this is a unique and visually stunning cinematic experience that will reward multiple viewings. Malaysian filmmaker Edmund Yeo infuses his adaptation with his personal fascination with the way experiences turn into narratives. As stories are passed down through generations, they take on lives of their own, intertwining history and myth. And, similarly, as Du Li An’s story gets passed along through screenings of The Age of Goodbyes, so shall it take on a life of its own.

JUNE KIM

Content advisory: self-harm, mature themes, sexual content, violence