Papa Zola The Movie reflects Malaysian fatherhood, hidden labour and family sacrifice behind its box office success
I WATCHED Papa Zola The Movie with my family because it has become one of the most talked about local films of the year and perhaps because it was the school holidays and everyone needed to get out of the house.
What I did not expect, however, was how quietly the film would linger with me long after the credits rolled.
The Malaysian animated feature has emerged as a box office phenomenon, earning RM26.6 million in just 11 days of screening and overtaking major international titles such as Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2 on local charts.
For context, the highest-grossing local animated film before this, Ejen Ali The Movie 2, went on to collect an impressive RM55.1 million after 25 days in cinemas. Against that benchmark, Papa Zola The Movie’s RM26.6 million haul in just 11 days is hard to ignore, especially when one considers how long even the biggest local animated hits usually need to warm up.
Yet, box office numbers alone do not explain why people turned up in such numbers. Audiences are drawn to stories that feel close to home. In Papa Zola The Movie, the central figure is not an out-of-this-world superhero but a father doing his best for his family through hard work, persistence and quiet sacrifice.
That focus gives voice to the unseen labour of fatherhood and it arrives alongside other Malaysian films, such as Babah, the Best Film winner at the 34th Festival Filem Malaysia, that are beginning to treat fatherhood not as an abstract ideal but as a lived experience.
When work pressure enters the home
Research helps explain why these stories land so strongly. Studies published in respected journals such as the Journal of Family Psychology show that when fathers face sustained pressure at work and at home, stress often spills into family life.
Competing demands can reduce the quality of everyday interactions between parents and children, not because fathers care less, but because emotional and mental energy is finite.
In Papa Zola The Movie, this pressure is captured most powerfully in a quiet scene. After finishing what is his third job of the day, Papa Zola sits alone in his school bus with a calculator. There is no dramatic dialogue and no raised voice. He is just counting. What looks quiet on screen feels loud in a father’s head.
Later, a line many viewers may repeat long after the film ends, “Jika tidak hari ini, mungkin minggu depan” (If not today, maybe next week), carries similar weight. On its own, it sounds hopeful. For fathers under pressure, it becomes a way of steadying themselves.
And as the line lingers, it carries a harder truth. In a country where news of road accidents on the daily commute is never far away, some fathers do not get to wait for “minggu depan”.
The economic trade-offs families make
From an economic perspective, what Papa Zola captures is the household side of the economy – where decisions are made under constraint, when wages stagnate, prices rise or job security weakens – families adjust internally.
Fathers take on extra shifts, second or third jobs or longer hours. Leisure, rest and sometimes health become the trade-offs. Economists would describe this as households absorbing economic shocks privately. Instead of visible unemployment or sharp drops in consumption, the adjustment takes the form of hidden labour.
More time is sold. More energy is spent. More stress is carried by individuals. This keeps households functioning and the wider economy stable but the cost is borne quietly inside families.
These sacrifices rarely appear in official statistics. Poductivity figures do not capture fatigue and employment rates do not reflect emotional strain. Yet, these unseen adjustments play a central role in maintaining household stability, especially for families living close to the margin.
What children experience in these homes
When fathers work long hours or hold multiple jobs, time and energy for daily interaction can become limited.
Research in family and labour studies shows that parents under constant pressure often struggle to be fully present emotionally, even when they are physically there. For children, this can affect emotional well-being, particularly when stress is prolonged and unspoken.
But children are not simply shaped by absence or strain; they are also shaped by what they see consistently. They notice routines, effort and the quiet determination that fills ordinary days. Many grow up watching a parent leave early, return tired and still show up for the family in whatever ways they can.
When warmth and connection are present, these experiences can become sources of strength. Many children who grow up in such environments develop a practical understanding of grit. They learn that progress often requires effort, that responsibility carries weight and that showing up matters even when it is difficult. Over time, these lessons surface in how they approach work, family and adversity, not as burdens, but as quiet guides.
To be clear, this is not about glorifying hardship or struggle. Stress has real costs and I feel that reality myself. But what my experience and stories like Papa Zola suggest is that when effort is paired with warmth, presence and simple explanations, children can begin to understand sacrifice not as absence but as care.
Why this conversation matters today
We are comfortable talking about economic success in terms of income, productivity and growth. We are far less comfortable talking about the personal cost behind those numbers, especially when it comes to fathers.
Yet, in a period marked by rising living costs, tighter household budgets and persistent income pressure, those costs are becoming harder to ignore. Perhaps that is why Papa Zola The Movie feels more like a tribute than just a movie.
As the credits roll, the film leaves viewers with a simple message: “Berkorban tanpa meminta, mencintai tanpa berkata.” (Sacrificing without asking. Loving without words.)
It ends by thanking the “hero keluarga” – the heroes of our families. These are heroes who may never call themselves heroes. They keep going not for applause or recognition but so their children can grow without feeling the weight of scarcity.
And for the families waiting for them to come home, tired but present, that is exactly what they are. Heroes.
Dr Mohd Zaidi Md Zabri was a senior lecturer who used to teach economics and finance at Malaysia’s top-ranked university and writes about economic issues as they are lived and felt in everyday family life. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
