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James Marsh

2/5 stars
Unexpected Courage sees an ambitious workaholic learn on her 45th birthday that she is pregnant and will need to be in hospital for the remainder of her term.
Drawing heavily from personal experience, Taiwanese writer-director Shawn Yu Shao-hsiang’s well-meaning but poorly conceived drama examines the conflicting expectations faced by women in today’s career-driven society.
In a performance that earned her a Golden Horse Award nomination, Rene Liu Ruo-ying stars as Le-fu, a successful talent manager in the midst of a media crisis who suddenly collapses and is rushed to hospital.


Despite an earlier operation that removed a portion of her uterus, the relentless career woman discovers she is four months pregnant. Her condition is incredibly unstable, however, and will require constant treatment – unless she wishes to terminate the pregnancy.
Le-fu’s long-term boyfriend, Po-en (Hsueh Shih-ling), is 12 years her junior and eager to keep the baby. She is less convinced, especially as her boss (Lee Lieh) has just offered her a promotion running the company’s Beijing office.
Inevitably, Le-fu chooses to see out the pregnancy, but this proves to be the first in a string of difficult decisions she will be forced to make in the coming months.
Beyond giving the main characters names that clumsily sound like “Love” and “Born”, as if their primary goals needed more obvious signposting, the film’s chief issue is the lack of agency afforded to Le-fu.

She is confined to a bed for almost the entire duration – a challenge Liu accepts with aplomb – but the audience is given precious little insight into her internal struggle.
Instead, the narrative frequently prioritises Po-en’s considerably more trivial perspective, as he reels from being trapped in a situation beyond his control.
From its opening moments, Unexpected Courage manufactures drama and conflict between its protagonists by having them behave ridiculously, while also denying them the opportunity to engage with one another in a simple, mature conversation to voice their concerns about this life-changing event.
The film embraces a worrying assumption that, regardless of her age, health or relationship status, Le-fu “should” have this baby, as though any other road taken would be a failure on her part as a woman.

This is reinforced in numerous ways, not least by the inclusion of another, younger couple – played by Patty Lee Pei-yu and Hans Chung Cheng-han – who are desperately attempting to conceive using IVF treatment.
The notion that, even in 2026, independent, professional women can only find true success by becoming mothers, and that Le-fu’s actions are somehow courageous rather than dangerous, is a deeply concerning message that should be considered with extreme care before being brought into the world.
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Unexpected Courage movie review: Rene Liu lacks agency in a flawed pregnancy drama

Rene Liu (right) as relentless career woman Le-fu and Hsueh Shih-ling, her boyfriend 12 years her junior, in a still from Unexpected Courage (category IIA, Mandarin), directed by Shawn Yu.

Rene Liu as relentless career woman Le-fu in a still from Unexpected Courage.

Rene Liu (right) and Hsueh Shih-ling as Po-en, her boyfriend 12 years her junior, in a still from Unexpected Courage.

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Ni Ni in a still from A Man and a Woman (category IIB, Mandarin, Cantonese, English), directed by Guan Hu. Huang Bo co-stars.


Henick Chou in a still from A Man and a Woman.

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Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama


Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama

Rene Liu stars as a woman whose successful career is put on hold when she continues a risky pregnancy in this poorly conceived drama