Director: Benjamin Wong
A father's secret job comes with a body count and a curious daughter who refuses to look away, and Ba turns that domestic tension into something closer to a horror story than a family drama.
What is Ba about?
Desperate and out of options, a single father agrees to a job offer that turns out to be far darker than advertised: he is recruited into the role of the grim reaper, tasked with collecting souls he never expected to face. Trying to keep the arrangement hidden from his daughter Collette proves harder than the job itself. She is sharp, watchful, and increasingly certain that her father's strange hours and stranger behavior add up to something he is not telling her. As his double life presses in from both directions, the film builds its tension less from supernatural spectacle and more from the strain of a parent trying to protect a child from a truth that keeps leaking through the cracks of ordinary routine. What begins as a story about supporting a family becomes a meditation on what parents choose to hide, and what children eventually figure out anyway.
Cast & crew
Lawrence Kao anchors the film as the father navigating his impossible new occupation, playing exhaustion and dread with a quiet, grounded restraint. Kai Cech, as Collette, gives the film its emotional pulse, portraying a child's suspicion and curiosity without tipping into precociousness for its own sake.
Context & significance
Director Benjamin Wong blends family drama with horror elements in a way that keeps the film's supernatural conceit tethered to very ordinary stakes, namely a parent's fear of failing his kid. At a lean 79 minutes, the American production moves briskly, using its short runtime to keep the tension tight rather than sprawling.
Where & how to watch
Ba is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing, part of a catalog curated for Farsi-speaking audiences who want an interface and viewing experience built around their language. A free account and login are all that's needed to start streaming.