Lolo and the Kid (2024)

Touching story or just morally wrong?

This was recommended to me as a touching story, even compared to "Miracle in Cell No. 7" but it was far from it. I do understand from what angle they wanted to portray the plot as a 'heartwarming/touching' story when an old, always drunk man, found an abandoned baby, and then the baby became his direction in life so he started working hard to raise the kid.

Then we downgraded to a grandfather who's now using the kid to con people? From street vendor to con artist real quick. Another problematic thing is how they are trying to earn money using other people's desperation like couples who for some reason cannot have kids of their own so the thought of adopting is like a beacon of light only for it to turn out to be a scam and instead of a child, they welcome a thief instead. It becomes more problematic when the grandfather says, "There are 2 types of people, those who fool others and those who get fooled."

I understand that some people can be really beyond poor and can be considered as a victim of poverty -- it may explain why they commit crimes but it is never an excuse. After few con gigs, the grandpa eventually put the kid's future above himself and left him with a couple who's willing to adopt the kid but there were no resolutions to everything that he taught the kid wrong. There were no explanations about how stealing and fooling people is never okay for whatever reason. Don't get me started on how they spend the money they get from stealing. I just can't imagine why he downgraded from someone earning small decent money from working/selling to someone who opted to fool people even calling it 'donations'. They also had a lot of chances where someone really wanted to help them with genuine care. Not just adopt the kid but to help them both. To give Kid an education and him -- a shelter but he still chooses for them to chase the one-day fun together, with no direction at all.

It was a whole disappointing plot and I kinda hope there is some redemption towards the end but nothing. It was swept under the rug of time just because he eventually gave up the kid (finally considering Kid's future) and went on his own -- God knows how he lived whether he continued stealing or worked for himself, it's still up in the air. Then we just fast forward to a grown-up Kid who's finally reunited with the grandfather before he passes. (Which also makes me wonder, how did Kid grew up like it's an interesting scene to see him in therapy. How he interacted with other kids after attending school, were there missing items at school because of him. The kind of childhood he had would definitely affect him as a grown-up so it's unrealistic that he's just a normal adult.)

I definitely would not recommend it. Everything that I said above sums up everything that happened hopefully, saving you some time.

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