When Love Comes

Laichun is a sensitive and insecure young woman who dislikes studying and feels the weight of her family’s expectations. Her off-and-on relationship with Mou Zhongyu, and her unplanned pregnancy, expose the fractures within the multi-generational household. Over the course of the story she confronts her own choices and begins to seek stability for herself and her baby.

Dark Face is the stern son-in-law who married into the family and clings to the belief that he must continue the family line. His outbursts and insistence on tradition trigger conflicts within the household, especially against Laichun. His death later in the story marks a turning point in the family’s dynamics.

Zihua is Dark Face’s lover and the mother of Laichun, whose relationship with the family is shaped by secrecy and social stigma. She embodies a quiet resilience as she navigates being a second wife and the challenges of a precarious place within the household.

Xuefeng is the elder matriarch known as Da Ma, who runs the family and the seafood business. She embodies stern but protective authority, placing expectations on family members while also showing care in crisis. Her presence anchors the family’s sense of duty and tradition.

Mou Zhongyu is Laichun’s boyfriend who resists responsibility after Laichun’s pregnancy, ultimately leaving with another woman. His actions catalyze the family’s confrontation with broken trust and future uncertainty.

Jie is the patriarchal figure who embodies stern reproach toward Laichun and stands as a proxy for the older generation’s judgment. His rigid expectations contribute to the tensions that tear at the family’s unity.

The mortician character participates in the film’s exploration of life’s fragile threads as a symbol of endings. Though not central to the plot, this role underscores themes of mortality and the consequences of choices.