Unexpected Courage proves a melodramatic take on childbirth. In this sense, the movie strongly reflects contemporary times in Taiwan, in which Taiwan has become a society with one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.
The film centers on workaholic talent manager Le-fu, who suddenly collapses while dealing with a scandal caused by one of the musicians she manages. As it turns out, she is pregnant, despite a medical condition that previously required part of Le-fu’s womb to be removed, and seemed to rule out the possibility of giving birth.
Le-fu is not married to her boyfriend, Po-en, a director ten years her junior. Thus, the couple finds themselves unexpectedly faced with the question of commitment after Le-fu’s pregnancy. Given her medical condition, Le-fu will have to be confined to her bed for some months if she hopes to give birth to a healthy child.
Challenges, then, come from not only her condition but also her age, in that her child will be born premature. Consequently, Le-fu will have to try and maintain the pregnancy for as long as possible to raise the odds of a successful birth, while maintaining the embryo’s weight and amniotic fluid level.
At the same time, Le-fu still struggles to balance her busy job, in spite of being confined to her bed. Po-en also struggles with the question of their shared future, seeing as he still lives an independent life and is unsure whether he has it in him to become a responsible father.
In dealing with the complications of pregnancy, Unexpected Courage casts childbirth as a life-and-death struggle. Certainly, it is in some cases. But the film clearly wishes to elevate Po-en and Le-fu’s struggle to greater philosophical significance, and in this way, heroicize it. In this sense, Unexpected Courage’s motivations are relatively transparent. One interpretation–perhaps a bit ungenerous–would be to see the movie as natalist propaganda.
The movie has its merits. Rene Liu and Hsueh Shih-ling make a compelling on-screen couple, distinguishing themselves through realistic and multifaceted performances. At the same time, that much of the film takes place in the crowded hospital room that Le-fu is confined in could have been used more creatively. Other elements of the movie, too, could have been developed further, such as that despite many references to the substantial age gap between Le-fu and Po-en, the dynamics between the couple remain a bit undeveloped. Most concerns expressed by the couple are about the possibility of infant or child mortality, or that Po-en may eventually grow bored of raising a child and leave.
But Unexpected Courage is perhaps simply too transparent as a narrative. The underlying motivation of the movie is always to heroicize childbirth. And though this is shot competently enough, one still feels something lacking. Perhaps that is nuance.
• • •
Unexpected Courage (Chinese: 我們意外的勇氣)—Taiwan. Dialog in Mandarin Chinese. Directed by Shawn Yu. First released Jun 25, 2025 at the Taipei Film Festival. Running time 1hr 51min. Dialog in Mandarin Chinese. Starring Rene Liu, Hsueh Shih-Ling.
This article is part of Cinema Escapist‘s dedicated coverage of the 2025 New York Asian Film Festival.
This article is also published in No Man Is An Island, an online publication focused on the connections between everyday life and politics. No Man Is An Island is brought to you by the team behind New Bloom Magazine.