Software engineer, 29, asks S'pore director Annette Lee for refund after watching her movie, gets S$15 back

Singaporean actress and filmmaker Annette Lee held a refund event for her debut movie Dream Stall — and one person actually took her up on the offer.

In an Instagram Reel posted on Jun. 7, Lee said the event was over and that she had spoken to 12 people in total.

According to Lee, the others either gave feedback without asking for their money back or wanted to talk about how they resonated with the film.

One person asked for refund

The refund session was held at *SCAPE.

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Lee had earlier announced that she would offer full refunds to moviegoers who watched Dream Stall during its opening week and felt that they had “wasted their time”.

Viewers who wanted a refund were asked to bring their ticket stub and share feedback with her at *SCAPE Gallery Level 5 on Jun. 5, from 8:30pm to 10pm.

The offer did not apply to tickets bought using SG Culture Pass, due to legal reasons.

The one moviegoer who asked for a refund, according to The Straits Times (ST), was a 29-year-old software engineer who had paid S$15 to watch Dream Stall at GV Tampines on May 29. He received the refund in cash.

Felt restaurant scenes did not look like Singapore

The man’s main issue with the film was that some restaurant scenes were filmed in Malaysia, even though the story is set in Singapore.

He felt that the filming location affected the movie’s immersive quality, as the surroundings did not look like what he expected of Singapore.

He said, as cited by ST:

“When I imagine Singapore, I expect HDB [flats] and high-rise buildings in the background. In shots filmed from inside the restaurant, [you can see that] there is too much parking space outside. It feels very Malaysia."

Lee explained to him that the team had wanted to film in Singapore, but could not secure a suitable location.

“Either we could not meet the rent, or [the shop owners] just did not want to rent it out. We needed two spaces side by side [to film in], and it was just impossible to find,” she said.

Lee also said her team used visual effects in post-production to add more buildings behind the restaurant.

Feedback on humour and Singlish

The moviegoer also felt that some of the humour in Dream Stall did not come across naturally, particularly in scenes referencing a Taiwanese movie.

He said some of the dialogue felt “a bit jarring”, possibly because it was delivered in a Singaporean accent.

In response, Lee explained that Singaporeans come from diverse backgrounds and speak a mix of English, Singlish and their mother tongue.

Annette Lee responded, according to ST:

“That is why I wish to see more local movies being made, so we can get used to how Singlish feels like when spoken on-screen."

The man later said that Lee’s willingness to offer refunds showed confidence and courage, adding:

“Being open to feedback is something I cherish a lot.”

However, he still felt the film had flaws and left the cinema with “very mixed feelings”.

About Dream Stall

Dream Stall is Lee’s feature film directorial debut.

She also stars in the film as Enya, a recent university graduate who tries to save her family’s bak kut teh business after her father, played by Mark Lee, decides to shut it down.

The film also stars actors such as Ya Hui, Xixi Lim and Xander Pang.

The comedy-drama opened in cinemas on May 27.