Cages (2005)

An estranged family goes through the painful process of healing their wounds in this independent drama set in modern-day Singapore. Ali (Tan Kheng Hua) is a strong-willed single mother who is caring for her eight-year-old son Jonah (Dickson Tan), who is blind. A sudden string of bad luck and an abrupt breakup with her boyfriend Ethan (Robert Tonelli) leaves Ali and Jonah with no place to live, and they are forced to take refuge with Tan (Makoto Iwamatsu), Ali's father. But Ali has been on bad terms with her father for two decades, and while he's more than happy to take in Ali and Jonah, she's not so willing to ignore their stormy past. Tan gives Ali a job in the bird shop he runs with Liz (Zelda Rubinstein), a British woman whose nerve is as strong as Ali's, and when he discovers Jonah has an interest in music, he begins teaching his grandson about the specially bred songbirds that have long held a place in Singapore's culture. Tan helps the shy Jonah develop a new confidence and an eagerness to explore his musical talents, but the fragile peace in the household is shattered when Ali and Tan confront the incident that led to their bitter separation so many years before. Cages was the first feature film from writer and director Graham Streeter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi