Happy Family

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Happy Family
Original	开心家族
Type	Live-action film
Genre	Supernatural comedy-drama; family film
Director / Screenwriter / Male Lead	Lin Chuan 26 29
Status	Released
Release Date	September 30 36
First Appearance	26

Premise

Happy Family follows a despondent orphan whose repeated suicide attempts fail. After waking in a hospital, he discovers that he can see four ghosts: a chain-smoking uncle, a crying woman, a lecherous grandfather, and a gluttonous child. A charlatan tells him that the ghosts can possess him until their lingering wishes are fulfilled. 26 31

The protagonist initially helps the ghosts only to free himself, but their demands gradually restore his connection to other people and give him a reason to live. The apparent strangers are ultimately revealed to be the spirits of his deceased family: his grandfather, father, mother, and older brother. 37 38

Characters

Character	Portrayed by	Role in the Film
Male protagonist	Lin Chuan	A suicidal orphan who can see and be possessed by ghosts. 29 31
Smoker Uncle	Ma Wei	A chain-smoking ghost later revealed as the protagonist's father. 28 38
Crying Aunt	Xu Xiu	A tearful ghost later revealed as the protagonist's mother. 28 37
Perverted Grandpa	Hou Yunlai	A lecherous-seeming ghost later revealed as the protagonist's caring grandfather. 28 38
Child Ghost	Unnamed child actor	A gluttonous ghost later revealed as the protagonist's older brother. 31 38
Nurse	Senior Female Student	The protagonist's love interest and the person who helps him reconnect with life. 27 37

Story

The Ghosts' Possession

After surviving a suicide attempt, the protagonist is hospitalized and mistaken for mentally ill because no one else can see the ghosts around him. The ghosts follow him home and take turns possessing his body, creating situations that expose their distinct personalities. 31

• Perverted Grandpa makes him drink and flirt with a neighboring woman.
• Child Ghost compels him to gorge himself on cake, though the protagonist visibly resists.
• Smoker Uncle turns his home into a smoke-filled mess.
• Crying Aunt causes him to weep uncontrollably at a residents' meeting. 31

Fulfilling Wishes

To send the ghosts away, the protagonist helps fulfill their unfinished wishes.

• Perverted Grandpa wants to recover his camera. 33
• Child Ghost wants to eat and drink freely, then later wishes to watch a movie. 33 37
• Smoker Uncle wants to steal a car and go swimming at the beach. The attempted theft leads the protagonist to uncover that the car owner's wife is seriously ill, rather than unfaithful as her husband suspects. 33 37
• Crying Aunt wants to go grocery shopping with the protagonist and makes him seaweed rice balls with water celery. 37

Family Revelation

As the ghosts' wishes are completed, the protagonist begins to remember the family he lost. The Child Ghost gives him a toy soldier, Smoker Uncle calls him his son, and the Crying Aunt is revealed to be his mother. 37

His mother apologizes for leaving him alone, tells him that his family will remain by his side, and urges him to live on. The film ends with the protagonist embracing her spirit as the promotional song “Rice Fragrance” plays. 37

Production

Development and Casting

Lin Chuan selected Happy Family for a System chain quest requiring a finished script, completed production, and box office exceeding 100 million. He wrote the script in five to six hours and received the S-grade talent “Christian Bale’s Rubber Man” as the first quest reward. 26

The Rubber Man talent allowed Lin Chuan to alter his weight, physique, and facial muscles without harming his health. Because the lead needed to portray himself plus four possessing ghosts, Lin Chuan replaced Ren Hang as the male lead. 26

Lin Chuan cast faculty members from Jianghai City Film Academy after struggling to find suitably approachable performers for the ghost roles. 27 28

• Hou Yunlai joined as the grandfather.
• Ma Wei was cast as the smoker uncle.
• Xu Xiu was cast as the crying aunt.
• Senior Female Student was cast as the nurse. 27 28

Filming

Lin Chuan assembled the crew with Ren Hang’s help recruiting prop and cinematography staff from Golden Warrior, while Xiao Hei handled special effects and other behind-the-scenes work. 29

To portray the lead's exhausted, bloated condition, Lin Chuan used his Rubber Man talent to gain roughly twenty pounds and transform his appearance. 29

Filming wrapped after approximately one month. The production maintained a demanding schedule of nearly ten scenes per day, with Lin Chuan providing high pay, overtime compensation, meals, red envelopes, snacks, and drinks for the crew. 33

Promotional Music

Song	Performer / Identity	Use
“Rice Fragrance”	Lin Chuan, using his musical talents	Promotional and insert song for Happy Family. 34 35

Lin Chuan chose “Rice Fragrance” because its healing, nostalgic tone suited the film's themes of family, perseverance, and emotional recovery. 34 35

Release and Reception

Happy Family was released on September 30, ahead of National Day, rather than during the Spring Festival. Lin Chuan believed its opening suicide-related material could spoil the mood of a holiday family outing despite the film's ultimately healing ending. 35 36

The film competed against Project Panda, Hurricane Partners, and The House That Never Dies. Its initial screening share was 17.8%, later rising above 24% following its strong word of mouth. 35 42

Milestone	Result
Opening-day performance	Became the single-day box-office champion, with real-time earnings reaching 27.83 million during its first day. 38
Three-day box office	Surpassed 100 million, completing Lin Chuan's System quest. 41 42
Fifth-day box office	Surpassed 200 million; real-time box office reached 238 million. 46

Viewers praised the film's shift from broad comedy into a family-centered emotional finale. Many audience members cried, contacted their families, or expressed a desire to return home after watching. 37 38

Director Hou's performance as the grandfather also drew major attention; his social-media following rose from a few thousand to more than 300,000 within three days of the film's release. 42

Trivia

• Lin Chuan's performance requires him to distinguish five personalities—the protagonist and the four possessing ghosts—through body language, expression, and behavior. 26 31
• The film was Lin Chuan's first live-action directorial project. 33
• The public dispute involving The House That Never Dies increased attention toward Happy Family and contributed to its rapid box-office growth. 40 41