Hong Kong Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘The Way We Talk’ (2024), starring Neo Yau, Chung Suet Ying and Marco Ng

August 6, 2025

by Carla Hay

Neo Yau, Marco Ng and Chung Suet Ying in “The Way We Talk” (Photo courtesy of Illume Films)

“The Way We Talk” (2024)

Directed by Adam Wong

Cantonese and Hong Kong Sign Language with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong in 2024 (with flashbacks to 2005), the dramatic film “The Way We Talk” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Three deaf friends, who have various levels of hearing abilities, have different opinions about how they want to interact with people who are not deaf.

Culture Audience: “The Way We Talk” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in stories told from the perspectives of deaf people, particularly deaf people who are affected by.

Marco Ng and Chung Suet Ying in “The Way We Talk” (Photo courtesy of Illume Films)

“The Way We Talk” is a lovely and candid drama that explores various opinions, perspectives, and debates about deaf people’s use of sign language versus communicating in other ways. The friendship between three young adults is the movie’s driving heartbeat. “The Way We Talk” is not a preachy film. Instead, it gives viewers the options to make up their own minds and think more about deaf people’s struggles for equality in a world that is heavily oriented toward people who are not deaf.

Directed by Adam Wong, “The Way We Talk” was co-written by Wong, SeeKing, 1000springs and Ho Hong. Wong and Hong are two of the movie’s producers. The movie had its world premiere at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival. “The Way We Talk” takes place in Hong Kong, where the movie was filmed on location. “The Way We Talk” received seven nominations, including Best at the 2025 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Singer/songwriter Panther Chan, who performs the movie’s theme song “What If,” has a cameo as herself in “The Way We Talk.” Chung Suet Ying, who wrote the lyrics for “What If,” won the award for Best Actress at the 2024 Golden Horse Awards. “The Way We Talk” director/co-writer Wong was inspired to make the movie after seeing Hong’s short film series about dead people who communicate by sign language when underwater. There are several underwater scenes in the film showing deaf people communicating by sign language when scuba diving and swimming.

“The Way We Talk” begins with a flashback to 2005, and the movie occasionally goes back to 2005 for more flashbacks. In 2005, best friends Wolf Yip (played by Nathan Cheng) and Alan Ng (played by Jesse Wong) are 6 or 7 years old and students a school for deaf children. Wolf (who is fun-loving and rebellious) is completely deaf. Alan (who is quiet and obedient) is partially deaf and wears a hearing aid.

This particular school has an oralism policy that is common in Hong Kong and in mainlaind China. Oralism is teaching deaf people to learn how to read lips and speak out loud as much as possible instead of teaching sign language. The school that Wolf and Alan attend forbids communicating in sign language. They have a strict teacher named Miss Chan (played by Leung Yuen Wan) who enforces this policy.

From this early age, Wolf is very much against this oralism policy. He defies Miss Chan’s orders by communicating in sign language as much as he. During a classroom session, Miss Chan sees Wolf talking in sign language to Alan.

Miss Chan scolds Wolf and tells him that he cannot speak in sign language and must speak out loud if he wants to communicate. She adds, “This is for yur future. I don’t want you to be marginalized by society.”

Most of the “The Way We Talk” takes place in 2024. Now in their mid-20s, the lives of Wolf (played by Neo Yao) and Alan (played by Marco Ng, also known as Ng Tsz Ho Marco) have gone in very different directions, and they drifted apart. They also have the same contrasting beliefs about how they want to communicate with people who aren’t deaf.

Alan had a cochlea implant at the age of 10, so he has most of his hearing restored. Alan is an art designer who has been chosen as an ambassador for a government-sponsored public awareness campaign for deaf people to get cochlea implants. Alan believes it’s better to communicate with hearing people by reading their lips and speaking out loud.

By contrast, Wolf (who works as a car washer on a roving basis) doesn’t want to have any surgery that would give him hearing abilities. Wolf also will only communicate by sign language. Wolf believes that more people who aren’t deaf should be willing to learn sign language, which he thinks needs to be taught in schools, just like any other language.

As shown later in the movie in a family dinner scene, Wolf’s entire immediate family is deaf. He a good, close-knit relatonships with his father (played by Ng Chi Wai), Wolf’s mother (played by Zhu Hunwen), Wolf’s sister (played by Chan Kei Yau) and uncle Gun (played by Wong Ching Hoi), who also only speak in sign language. It explains why Wolf is proudly deaf and refuses to abide by oralism policies.

Meanwhile, a talented academic student named Sophie (played by Chung Suet Ying), who is partially deaf, is shown graduating from a university with a degree in actuarial science. She plans to work at an insurance company. Just like Alan, Sophie had a cochlea implant when she was a child (she was 6 when she had this surgery), and she has been chosen to be an ambassador for the same campaign for cochlea implants. Sophie and Alan meet each other for the first time at a photo shoot for this campaign.

Unlike Alan, Sophie has never learned sign language. Alan is attracted to Sophie, who seems to like him too. She flirts with him a little bit, but their dates are always platonic. Because Sophie doesn’t know sign language, and because she and Alan have partial hearing, they speak by talking to each other out loud.

One day, after years of not seeing each other, Alan and Wolf see each other at a press conference for the cochlea implant public awareness campaign. They have a friendly reunion. Sophie is one of the speakers at the press conference. Alan introduces Sophie to Wolf. During her speech, Sophie talks about how she’s glad she had the cochlea implant surgery because it’s made her life easier.

Wolf stands up from his seat in the audience and angrily says in sign language: “What are you saying? I’m proud to be deaf?” Sophie doesn’t understand sign language but she can see that Wolf is very upset by her speech. Later, Alan tells Sophie why Wolf was offended by her speech: Wolf thinks that it’s ableism to expect deaf people abandon sign language and to do everything to “fit in” with a hearing-dominated society.

Sophie makes an apology to Wolf, but he’s still not convinced that the apology is sincere as long as Sophie doesn’t care to learn sign language. Even so, Sophie, Wolf and Alan end up hanging out together. And how this trio of friends will feel about communicating won’t necessarily be the same for all of them in the beginning of the film, compared to the end of the film.

Wolf, Alan and Sophie go through various challenges during the course of the story. Wolf starts off working for a deaf entrepreneur, but a dispute on the job motivates Wolf to start his own car-washing business with deaf employees. He assembles a crew of four other guys. Wolf also takes scuba diving lessons because his main career goal is to open a scuba diving school for all people, regardless of their hearing abilities.

Sophie gets what she thinks is her dream job when she’s hired to be an actuary by an insurance company. However, she is treated like a token “diversity hire” to boost the company’s public image. Sophie is not treated as as respected equal. And it starts to undermine her confidence.

Sophie’s prejudice against sign lanaguage is rooted in trauma. Sophie reveals that when she was a child (played by Hathy Law, also known as Law Hei Yi Hathy), her overbearing mother (played by Yam Yuen) used to beat Sophie with wire hangers if Sophie did not verbally speak “correctly.” Sophie’s mother continues to pressure Sophie to not act as if Sophie has any hearing disabilities.

Alan doesn’t really have any career challenges, but his easygoing personality is tested when he sees that Sophie is becoming very attracted to Wolf. At first, Alan had been a sign-language interpreter for Sophie when she talked to Wolf. And then, Sophie asked Alan to teach her sign language, and he willingly obliged.

Alan can’t help feeling a little jealous that Sophie has become closer to Wolf, ever since she learned sign language. Alan tells Sophie that he thinks Wolf and Sophie aren’t very compatible because he thinks Sophie will always prefer speaking out loud over sign language. At first, Wolf teases Sophie about her faulty sign-language skills, but he becomes more impressed with her as she improves.

Fortunately, this “love triangle” turn of events does not overshadow the movie. “The Way We Talk” could have easily made the movie about guessing which person Sophie will choose as a love partner. However, the focus of the story remains the friendship of these Wolf, Alan and Sophie and how they support each other, despite their differences. Thanks in large part to the Wong’s emotionally intelligent direction, the story beautifully unfolds in way that looks natural, not melodramatic.

In addition to having terrific performances, “The Way We Talk” has excellent sound design. The movie uses similar sound techniques as the Oscar-winning 2020 drama “Sound of Metal” (about a rock drummer who becomes deaf), by having sound that reflects what the main character in the scene is experiencing from hearing loss. For example, when Alan takes off his hearing aid and put its back on, the movie depicts the “before and after” sound effects of what Alan hears. Wolf’s hearing perspective is complete silence, while Sophie’s hearing goes through different phases when she finds out something about her hearing condition.

It should be noted that the cast members who portray Wolf, Alan and Sophie are not deaf. There is consderable debate over whether or not any movie about deaf people should have real-life deaf people in the lead actor roles of deaf people. “The Way We Talk” (which had real-life deaf people in some of the movie’s small supporting roles) is not going to resolve this ongoing debate. However, it does give enough authenticity in showing that deaf people are not a monolith and are deserving of dignity and respect in how to communicate.

Illume Films released “The Way We Talk” in select U.S. cinemas on August 1, 2025. The movie was released in select Hong Kong cinemas on December 3, 2024, before going into wider release in Hong Kong on February 20, 2025.

Review: ‘The Dumpling Queen,’ starring Ma Li, Kara Wai, Zhu Yawen, Pakloy Liang, Zoe Su, Yang Qing and Ben Yuen

May 3, 2025

by Carla Hay

“The Dumpling Queen”

Directed by Andrew Lau

Cantonese and Mandarin with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong and in mainland China, from 1977 to 1991, the dramatic film “The Dumpling Queen” (a biopic of Zang Jianhe) features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After being abandoned by her affluent husband, single mother Zang Jianhe lives in near-poverty and starts a dumpling empire from humble beginnings.

Culture Audience: “The Dumpling Queen” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and biopics about successful entrepreneurs.

Pictured clockwise, from top: Ma Li, Pakloy Liang and Zoe Su in “The Dumpling Queen” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“The Dumpling Queen” is a formulaic biopic about entrepreneur Zang Jianhe that is neither great nor terrible. Uneven film editing spends too much or too little time on certain areas of her life story. Ma Li’s admirable performance is the movie’s best asset.

Directed by Andrew Lau and written by Han Jia Nv, “The Dumpling Queen”(which takes place mostly in Hong Kong and briefly in mainland China) is told in chronological order from 1977 to 1991. (Zang Jianhe died in 2019, at the age of 75.) The movie begins in 1977, in the city of Qingdao. Zang Jianhe (played by Ma Li) is looking forward to reuniting with her husband Huang Hanzhou (played by Kenny Wong) in Hong Kong, after he has been away for an unspecified number of years because Hanzhou has been working for his family’s business in Thailand.

Jianhe and Hanzhou have two daughters together: Bei Bei (played Pakloy Liang), who later gets the name Joanne, was born in 1968. Peng Peng (played by Zoe Su), who later gets the name Jessica, was born in 1972. Bei Bei is the more serious-minded and more intellectual sister. Peng Peng is playful and more extroverted than Bei Bei.

Jianhe is very close to her mother Zang Yushu (played by Yan Qing), who taught Jianhe how to make dumplings. Yushu raised Jianhe and Jianhe’s younger sister Zang Jianping (played by Eponine Huang) as a single mother. The movie begins by showing dumplings being served during a family meal that includes Jianhe, Yushu, Bei Bei, Peng Peng and Jianping.

Yushu is very conservative and traditional. She believes that wives must always listen to their husbands. Yushu tells that advice to Jianhe before Jianhe, Bei Bei and Peng Peng go to Hong Kong. Jianhe is very obedient and introverted, but over time, her personality evolves to be more independent and assertive.

Things don’t go as planned for Jianhe when she in Hong Kong. In fact, the trip turns out to be a disaster. At the train station in Chaozhou, Jianhe meets up with Hanzhou and his judgmental mother (played by Nina Paw), who doesn’t have a name in the movie.

Hanzhou’s mother tells Jianhe that not only has Hanzhou found a new wife, he also has a son with the new wife. The movie is vague on the details on whether or not Hanzhou is a bigamist, but his mother says he’s not a bigamist. It’s unclear in the movie if Hanzhou and Jianhe were officially married or were common-law spouses. There’s no mention of divorce in the movie.

In traditional Chinese culture, sons have more value than daughters. That’s why Hanzhou’s mother wants him to choose the woman who gave birth to the son. Hanzhou’s mother cruelly tells Jianhe: “Just because you gave birth to Hanzhou’s daughters, that doesn’t make you good enough for him.”

Hanzhou and Jianhe settle in Hong Kong with Bei Bei and Peng Peng. Jianhe loves living in Hong Kong and changes her mind about living in Thailand when Hanzhou needs to live there. And so, when Hanzhou tells Jianhe that he has to spend more time in Thailand for the family business, he gives her an ultimatum: Go with him and they can remain a couple, or stay in Hong Kong and end their relationship.

Hanzhou and Jianhe have a big argument about this matter. He tells her that his mother was right about Jianhe using him for a relocation to Hong Kong. At one point he offers a compromise that Jianhe thinks is unacceptable: He will take Bei Bei to Thailand, while Jianhe can keep Peng Peng in Hong Kong. In the end, Hanzhou breaks up with Jianhe and cuts off contact with her, Bei Bei and Peng Peng. He also refuses to give child support.

Jianhe is too embarrassed to go back to Qingdao to live with her mother. And so, she pretends to her Qingdao family for a long period of time that she and the kids are living happily with Hanzhou in Hong Kong. The truth is Jianhe’s life in Hong Kong is much more difficult than she tells her mother and sister.

Jianhe’s passport expires, so she experiences a lot of problems finding a job as an undocumented immigrant in Hong Kong. She eventually finds a job as a dishwasher and sanitation worker for a restaurant. Jianhe is a very hard worker, but the job’s pay is so low, she’s living in near-poverty.

Through a recommendation, Jianhe has been able to find an apartment (across from Causeway Bay) at a rental price that she can afford. The landlord/apartment manager is Hong Jie (played by played by Kara Wai), also known as Sister Hong, who has a lively personality and an interesting past. (She used to be a nurse.) Jie has empathy for single mother Jianhe and tells her that because Jianhe has kids, it’s the only reason why Jie will sometimes let Jianhe pay the rent in installments or past the due date.

“The Dumpling Queen” gets a little unfocused when it starts to show the lives of other people who live on the same floor of the apartment building. Mr. Jin (played by Won Cho Lam) and Mrs. Jin (played by Ya Mei) are parents to underage children Jin Jintai (played by Lucky Leung) and Jin Duotai (played by Lv Zefeng). The spouses are in a toxic marriage because Mr. Jin is very abusive to Mrs. Jin.

A sex worker named Rose (played by Fiona Sit) is also on the same floor, but Bei Bei and Ping Ping are too young to understand what Rose does for money. They just think she’s a party girl who dresses up when Rose goes out. A disabled man named Brother La Ta (played by Cheung Tat Ming) is bullied by Mr. Jin, but Jianhe treats Brother La Ta with kindness.

Jianhe eventually opens up to Sister Hong about her personal life. She tells her about Hanzhou abandoning her and the children. When talking about her mother, Jianhe says she has fond memories of making dumplings with her. Sister Hong encourages Jianhe to make dumplings because she can see how happy it makes Jianhe.

And that’s how Jianhe makes dumplings for her neighbors in the apartment. Her dumplings are an immediate hit with the residents. It’s the start of Jianhe thinking that she could make a living from selling dumplings.

Jianhe gets into an accident at her restaurant job when a fellow employee accidentally crashes into her, and she falls down on the hard floor. Her injuries temporarily put her in a hospital. And it’s how she decides that she has to find work that’s less hazardous to her health. With money that she gets from worker’s compensation, Hanzhou decides to open her own dumpling stall at Wan Chai Pier, a place that has several food vendors with stalls.

Many of the food vendors are undocumented immigrants. And so, every time police are nearby for a possible raid, the vendors scramble away and try not to get caught. The movie presents this problem—as well as the problem of local thugs trying to extort the vendors—as something that Jianhe can overcome with the right attitude. It all looks too pat and convenient in the movie. For example, Jianhe is able to win over some local extortionists by waving a knife in self-defense and then getting them as loyal customers once they eat her dumplings.

That’s not to say that Jianhe’s dumplings were an instant hit at Wan Chai Pier. During the first few weeks of operating her dumpling stall, she gets discouraged by the low sales. For starters, her dumplings (which she eventually names Shandong dumplings) were in the “pot sticker” shape that was new and unfamiliar at the time. An elderly vendor named Mr. Dessert (played by Ben Yuen) becomes her ally and suggests that she change the way to pronounces the word “dumpling” to sound more Cantonese.

For reasons that are shown in the movie, Jianhe also gets to know a police officer named Brother Hua (played by Zhu Yawen), a married father. Jianhe and Brother Hua develop an attraction to each other. The movie shows whether or not their relationship becomes more than platonic.

“The Dumpling Queen” awkwardly handles anything to do with Jianhe’s love life. The movie depicts Jianhe as not making much time for a love life because she spends most of her time taking care of her kids and working. Bei Bei and Peng Peng eventually help with the dumpling business as it starts to grow. The sisters continue to work for the business when Jianhe establishes the brand Wanchai Ferry in 1985, the year that the company’s first factory was built.

One of the biggest weaknesses in “The Dumpling Queen” is that it reduces the rise of Wanchai Ferry into a corporate brand by just showing a glorified series of extended montages when more time and details were needed for these scenes. The closest that the movie depicts of corporate competition are multiple scenes of Jianhe turning down offers from a rival Japanese company to buy Wanchai Ferry because she refuses their idea to erase the Chinese identity of her dumplings. Jianhe’s 1997 sale of 70% of her Wanchai Ferry shares to corporate giant Pillsbury is not covered in depth but is mentioned in the movie’s epilogue.

The narrative of “The Dumpling Queen” has flaws, but Ma’s performance outweighs the flaws in many scenes. She is able to convey emotions with so much credibility, most viewers will be rooting for Jianhe and feeling the emotions along with this character. Ma gives the type of performance that when Jianhe gets emotional, it looks authentic—not like an actress who’s trying too hard. The other cast members do well in their roles, particularly Wai, who is a scene stealer as the charismatic Sister Hong.

“The Dumpling Queen” should also be commended for showing that in the competitive world of business, there is room for unselfish friendship. The characters of Sister Hong and Mr. Dessert are supportive of Jianhe without expecting anything in return. Whether or not these characters were fabricated for the movie, it’s a realistic bright spot in this story that sometimes falters in other areas that look too saccharine.

The movie also shows that Jianhe’s success came from not only believing in herself but also having the humility and good sense to listen to constructive criticism. For example, during the first few months of that Jianhe sells her dumplings at Wan Chai Pier, a customer suggests that Jianhe make the dumpling linings thinner. Jianhe takes this advice, and it ends up vastly improving her sales.

“The Dumpling Queen” is not the type of movie to get into all the business details of what it takes to create a company that ends up being worth millions. Nor is it a fantasy that peddles a “get rich quick” scheme. The movie—although at times clunky and trite—succeeds at the very least in its intention to be inspirational.

CMC Pictures released “The Dumpling Queen” in select U.S. cinemas on May 2, 2025.

Review: ‘Papa’ (2024), starring Sean Lau, Jo Koo, Dylan So and Lainey Hung

March 16, 2025

by Carla Hay

Sean Lau in “Papa” (Photo courtesy of Illume Films)

“Papa” (2024)

Directed by Philip Yung

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong, from 2010 to 2014 (with flashbacks to previous years), the dramatic film “Papa” (inspired by true events) features an all-Asian group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A father struggles with guilt and depression after his teenage son murders the father’s wife and daughter.

Culture Audience: “Papa” will appeal primarily to people who can handle watching tearjerking dramas about families affected by murder.

Sean Lau, Lainey Hung, Dylan So and Jo Koo in “Papa” (Photo courtesy of Illume Films)

“Papa” is a beautifully filmed and heart-wrenching drama about a widower coping with his son murdering the father’s wife and daughter. Some viewers won’t like the timeline jumping, but this drama is an impactful portrait of grief and mental illness. At least half of the movie consists of flashbacks to the years before the family was ripped apart by this tragedy.

Written and directed by Philip Yung, “Papa” has a “present-day” storyline that takes place from 2010 to 2014. The flashbacks go back to the 1990s and continue through 2009. “Papa” is based on the real-life Heung Wo Street murder, which happened in July 2010, on Heung Wo Street in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. A 15-year-old boy named Kan Ka-leung murdered his mother Lam Lin-kam and his 12-year-old sister Kan Chung-yue, by hacking them to death with a cleaver at ther family’s apartment home, while his father Kan Fuk-kui was working the night shift at the family’s diner across the street.

Ka-leung immediately confessed to the crime when he made a 999 phone call to get help. He was later diagnosed with having schizophrenia because he said he heard voices telling him to murder because the world was overpopulated. In his mind, he was helping the environment by reducing the population with these murders. In 2012, after a trial where Ka-leung entered a not guilty plea due to insanity, he was sentenced to live in a psychiatric hospital, where he received treatment and was eventually considered well enough to be released from criminal containment.

“Papa” includes these facts in the story but changes the names of the family members and takes a speculative interior look at the father’s state of mind as he goes through the grieving process. Just like what happened in real life, there also comes a point in time when the son is set for release from the psychiatric hospital, so the father has to decide if he will let the son live with him. This review will not reveal what the father’s decision was, but the movie shows this decision.

“Papa” (which is told in non-chronological order) begins in July 2010, by showing family patriarch Nin Yuen (played by Sean Lau) on the street outside his family’s apartment building in Tsuen Wan. Nin is looking up at his apartment in shock because he can’t quite believe what he has heard. His house is a crime scene because Nin’s loving wife Yin (played Jo Koo) and extroverted 12-year-old daughter Grace (played by Lainey Hung) were found slaughtered inside the apartment. The news media have already been reporting that Nin and Yin’s 15-year-old son Ming (played by Dylan So) confessed to the crime when he called 999.

As the horror continues for Nin, the movie shows snippets of the trial and Ming living in a psychiatric hospital that treats convicted criminals. Nin is allowed to visit Ming four times a month and visits Ming on a regular basis. Helen Tam has a small supporting role as Dr. Lee, Ming’s psychiatrist. At the hospital, Ming keeps mostly to himself, but he strikes up a friendly acquaintance with an elderly man maned Uncle Kim (played by Tai Bo), a fellow patient who is in the facility for murdering his wife.

Nin has memories triggered every time he sees something that reminds him of when Yin and Grace were alive. Nin’s flashbacks go all the way back to the 1990s, when he and Yin met, began dating, and fell in love. On their first date, they went to a karaoke bar. After they got married, Nin worked as a chicken butcher. He then owned and operated a cha chaan teng (a Chinese word for a Hong Kong-styled diner or cafe), which was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yin and Nin took turns working at the cha chaan teng in 12-hour shifts.

“Papa” shows small slices of life indicating that this tight-knit family was happy for many years. Grace found a stray calico kitten whom she named Carnation, who became the family’s beloved pet. After Carnation became an adult, Nin remembers how Grace lost interest in Carnation, and Ming became the person in the household who ended up taking care of Carnation the most. Carnation is Nin’s only companion at home after the murders.

Nin’s memories of his life before Ming and Grace reached adolescence are all very blissful. It’s the movie’s way of showing how people dealing with a traumatic event tend to selectively remember only the good things that happened before the traumatic event. The cast members who portray Ming at various stages of his life are Travis Choi (Ming at 2 years old); Yeung Taz Hong Cayson (Ming at 5 years old); and Edan Lui (Ming as an adult). Tsang Sin Tung has the role of Grace at 2 years old.

Ming had always been a quiet and obedient child. But as he grew older and approached adolescence, he seemed withdrawn and troubled. Nin thought it had to do with Ming being a loner and bullied by other students a school. Nin found out much too late that Ming had thoughts that were much more disturbing than what the family had ever imagined.

Nin also understandably feels guilt in wondering if he could’ve done anything differently to prevent this tragedy. He has painful memories of Ming complaining that he wished that Nin and Yin could spend more time with Ming at home. A scene in the movie shows that Nin brought up the idea to Yin to reduce the open-for-business hours for the cha chaan teng, but Yin said they should wait until Ming and Grace get older. After the murders, Nin sold the cha chaan teng to a loyal employee named Salty (played by Yeung Wai Lun) and eventually moved to another apartment.

Ming developed in interest in photography and asked Nin if he could have a smartphone. Nin refused this request and gave Ming a digital camera instead. It was a gift that Ming rejected. This digital camera became a symbol of how Ming and Nin had begun to start growing apart. Ming worked part time at the cha chaan teng, where Nin and Ming sometimes clashed over the rigid ways that Nin expected Ming to do the work.

Nin has male friends who try to cheer him up, but Nin remains lost in an emotional fog of grief. Nowhere is this detachment more evident than in a scene where Nin and his friends are at a nightclub. Nin’s friends are enjoying the amorous attentions of younger women in a back room. Nin is the only person in the group who seems completely disinterested in being social. And even though Nin is not alone, he looks very lonely.

Nin isn’t completely removed from his emotions though. There’s a scene that won’t be fully described here but it’s enough to say that Nin has a sobbing meltdown after someone cheats him out of his money. His outpouring of sadness isn’t really about the money but about losing a chance to connect with someone who had promised to spend time with Nin.

Due to the movie’s creative direction and film editing, the narrative structure of “Papa” is like artfully made pieces of a puzzle that are offered out of sequence, and it’s up to the viewers to piece everything together. Ding Ke’s musical score for “Papa” is also quite effective at stirring up emotions. The acting from Lau is superb as grieving father Nin, while So gives a very memorable performance as a teenager who suffers in silence when he begins to feel like he’s losing his grip on sanity.

“Papa” has many sad moments of family heartbreak balanced with uplifting moments of family love. Without being preachy, the movie shows that it’s okay for people to have different ways to grieve, with recovery often being a rough experience with stops and starts. “Papa” serves as a thoughtful reminder about not taking loved ones for granted and giving parents the grace to not have all the answers to life’s problems.

Illume Films released “Papa” in select U.S. cinemas on March 14, 2025. The movie was released in Hong Kong on December 5, 2024.

Review: ‘Hello, Love, Again,’ starring Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards

November 20, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Hello, Love, Again”

Directed by Cathy Garcia-Sampana

Tagalog with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place from 2019 to 2024, in Hong Kong and in Canada, the dramatic film “Hello, Love, Again” (a sequel to the 2019 film “Hello, Love, Goodbye”) features a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with some white) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: An aspiring nurse and a bar owner have an on-again/off-again romance and issues over where they want to live.

Culture Audience: “Hello, Love, Again” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, the movie “Hello, Love, Again” and romantic dramas with entertaining characters.

Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards in “Hello, Love, Again” (Photo courtesy of Star Cinema)

“Hello, Love, Again” is an enjoyable but not perfectly made sequel to 2019’s “Hello, Love, Goodbye.” This sequel should please fans who want a certain ending to this romantic drama, which has light touches of comedy. The on-again/off-again couple in this story have the same problems but in a different country. In “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” most of the movie takes place in Hong Kong. In “Hello, Love, Again,” most of the movie takes place in Canada.

Cathy Garcia-Sampana (formerly known as Cathy Garcia-Molina) directed “Hello, Love, Goodbye” and “Hello, Love, Again” and co-wrote both movies. For “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” the other co-writers are Carmi G. Raymundo, Crystal Hazel San Miguel and Rona Co. For “Hello, Love, Again,” the co-writers are the same, except for Co, who is not one of the writers.

In both movies, the couple at the center of the story are headstrong Joy Marie Fabregas (played by Kathryn Bernardo) and romantic Ethan del Rosario (played by Alden Richards), who are of Filipino heritage but are living in countries other than the Philippines. In “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” Joy and Ethan both lived in Hong Kong, but Joy wanted to move to Canada to become a nurse. Ethan is a bartender who becomes a bar owner.

“Hello, Love, Goodbye” took place in 2019. And (mild spoiler alert) even though Joy and Ethan declared their love for each other, they parted ways at the end of the film because Joy moved to Canada, but they promised to visit each other when they could. “Hello, Love, Again” takes place in 2024 but has some flashbacks from 2019 to 2023. A turning point in Joy and Ethan’s relationship happened when Ethan went to visit Joy in Canada in March 2020, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Joy Marie and Ethan have a catch phrase—”I don’t love you”—when what they really mean is “I love you.” They also have stop watches that are of special significance to them.

In the beginning of “Hello, Love, Again,” Joy, who now uses her middle name Marie, works as a health care assistant at a nursing home facility in Calgary, Canada. She now wants to move to the U.S., where she hopes to get a better-paying job. Through a series of circumstances, Ethan ends up working at the same nursing facility. Ethan has some visa problems, so Joy Marie and Ethan pretend to be in a common-law marriage so he can stay in Canada. The movie is somewhat repetitive but still a very watchable journey of whether or not Ethan and Joy Marie will get back together.

If you’ve seen enough of these movies, you probably know what to expect. The two lovebirds have meddling friends, family members and rivals who cause confusion, jealousy or manipulations in their relationship. Ethan’s best friend Jhim Gabriel (played by Joross Gamboa) wants Joy Marie and Ethan to get back together. Joy Marie has a new love interest named Uno (played by Kevin Kreider), who lives in New York and wants her to move to New York. Meanwhile, a woman named Baby (played Jennica Garcia) has a romantic interest in Ethan.

In “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” Joy Marie’s father Celso Fabregas (played by William Lorenzo) had a prominent role in the movie, but in “Hello, Love, Again,” Celso is deceased and seen in flashbacks. Meanwhile, “Hello, Love, Again” has a flashback subplot about Ethan’s father Mario Del Rosario (played by Lito Pimentel) having a life-threatening health issue. The other family members who make appearances in “Hello, Love, Again” are Ethan’s younger brothers Edward del Rosario (played by Jameson Blake) and Eric del Rosario (played by Anthony Jennings); Joy Marie’s younger brother Joey (played by Wilbert Ross); and Joy Marie’s cousin Mary Dale Fabregas (played by Maymay Entrata).

Joy Marie’s friend in Calgary also get involved in and gossip about her love life. These pals include outspoken Amy (played by Ruby Rodriguez), who has a introverted teenage son named Tonton (played by Eric Jhon Balajadia) and gay husbands Marc (played by Mark Labella) and Marvin (played by Marvin Aritrangco). Other characters in “Hello, Love, Again” include Jhim’s goofy uncle Tito Lino (played by Jobert Austria) and a widow named Martha (played by Wendy Froberg), who has a dementia and is a nursing home patient who becomes close to Joy Marie.

Bernardo and Richards carry “Hello, Love, Again” with their charismatic performances, although the movie’s overall acting and the dialogue are sometimes clunky. Some of the supporting characters didn’t need to be in the movie and are just part of the clutter of people who have something to say about what Joy Marie and Ethan should do about their relationship. “Hello, Love, Again” has just the right amount of comedy to offset the melodrama in ways that are sweet and romantic—ultimately delivering what fans of this franchise can expect.

Star Cinema released “Hello, Love, Again” in U.S. cinemas on November 15, 2024. The movie was released in the Philippines on November 13, 2024.

Review: ‘Stuntman’ (2024), starring Terrance Lau, Stephen Tung, Cecilia Choi and Philip Ng

October 15, 2024

by Carla Hay

Terrance Lau and Stephen Tung in “Stuntman” (Photo courtesy of Edko Films)

“Stuntman” (2024)

Directed by Albert Leung and Herbert Leung

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong in the 2000s, the action film “Stuntman” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After a 20-year hiatus, a stuntman is persuaded to come out of retirement to work on an old friend’s movie as an action choreographer, and he has to come to terms with the guilt he has from mistakes he made in the past.

Culture Audience: “Stuntman” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and action flicks that have realistic human drama.

Terrance Lau in “Stuntman” (Photo courtesy of Edko Films)

“Stuntman” has a predictable narrative, but this action film has meaningful depictions of how stunt performer work can take a toll on stunt performers’ personal lives. The movie has capable acting that elevate the occasionally trite screenplay. This is a film that doesn’t pretend to be anything that it is not.

Directed by Albert Leung and Herbert Leung, “Stuntman” (which takes place in Hong Kong in the 2000s) was written by Anastasia Tsang and Yip Wai-ping. The movie begins with a scene that takes place sometime in the 1980s, when action director Sam Lee (played by Lam Yiu Sing) miscalculates a stunt that leaves his stuntman friend Kam (played Terry Zou) serously injured. It’s revealed later in the movie that Kam became paralyzed because of this injury and has paraplegia, which requires him to use a wheelchair. Wracked with guilt, Sam lef tthe movie industry shortly after this tragedy.

In the 2000s, middle-aged and divorced Sam (played by Stephen Tung, also known as Tung Wai) is working as a physical therapist. One of his clients is Lee “Long” Sai-long (played by Terrance Lau), who is an aspiring stuntman. Long, who is 29 years old, greatly admires Sam and is a big fan of the movies that Sam directed. Long works at a warehouse, where his job is to move and transport items. Long’s real career goal is to be a stuntman.

Sam is persuaded out of retirement to work on an action movie that is being produced by an old friend/previous filmmaking collaborator named Cho Tin Hang (played by Ton Yin Gor), who is beholden to a major investor named Mr. Mok, who is never seen in the movie. Long quits his job as a warehouse worker to become a stunt coordinator on the movie. Lee Sai Kit (played by Max Cheung), who is Long’s older brother/warehouse co-worker, thinks that Long is making a foolish mistake in wanting to go into the unstable profession of stunt work. The star of the movie is an egotistical actor named Leung Chi Wai (played by Philip Ng), a former stunt coordinator who used to work with Sam years ago. Wai likes to do the opposite of what Sam wants.

Sam has to deal with many problems while making the film, including production budget issues, clashing with Wai, and beng haunted by guilt over what happened to Kam. Sam still keeps in touch with Kam (played by Ng Shui Ting), who seems to have forgiven him, in contrast to Kam’s wife Kuen (played by Stephanie Che), who is still very angry with Sam. One of the most emotional scenes in the movie is when Kuen explodes with rage at Sam when he tries to give money to Kam and Kuen.

In addition, Sam’s estranged daughter Cherry Lee (played by Cecilia Choi), who was about 7 or 8 years old when her parents divorced, is getting married to a nice guy named Martin (played by Lee Kwan Chiu), and has mixed emotions about having Sam at the wedding. Cherry still has a lot of lingering resentment over what Sam being a mostly absentee father because of his work. A flashback scene shows that a breaking point in her parents’ marriage was when Sam chose to work instead of staying with Cherry and her mother Yin (played by Rachel Leung) when Cherry was taken to a hospital for a medical emergency. In the present-day part of the story, Yin is now deceased.

Sam has difficulty changing his workaholic ways. He leaves a wedding rehearsal early to go back to working on the movie. He later tells Cherry that he’s sorry, but she is cold and resentful. Cherry tells Sam how she feels about his habit of choosing to work instead of spending time with her: “I’m used to it. That’s why I never watch your movies.” Cherry doesn’t trust that Sam can be relied on to be at the wedding, so she has asked Martin’s father (played by Chan Wai Tong) to be the one to give her away at the wedding ceremony..

Will Sam redeem himself with Cherry and successfully get the movie completed without anyone getting seriously injured? You haven’t watched enough movies of this type if you don’t know the answer. However, the performances in “Stuntman” make this movie very watchable, even though you know how everything is going to end within 15 minutes after the movie starts.

Edko Films released “Stuntman” in select U.S. cinemas on October 11, 2024. The movie was released in Hong Kong on September 26, 2024.

Review: ‘Customs Frontline,’ starring Jacky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Karena Lam, Cya Liu and Francis Ng

July 29, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Customs Frontline”

Directed by Herman Yau

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong and in Africa, the action film “Customs Frontline” features a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with some white people and black people) portraying the working-class, middle-class and criminal underground.

Culture Clash: Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department agents battle against a group of weapons smugglers led by mysterious and ruthless dealer.

Culture Audience: “Customs Frontline” will appeal primarily to people are fans of the movies headliners and action movies with mindless plots.

Jacky Cheung in “Customs Frontline” (Photo courtesy of Well Go USA)

Awkward acting, a poorly written screenplay and an overcrowded cast make “Customs Frontline” a dud. This story about customs officials versus criminal smugglers tries to do too much but ends up with very little meaning. All the action scenes look fake.

Directed by Herman Yau, “Customs Frontline” (formerly titled “War Customised”) has almost no imagination because the outcome and the weak plot twists can be easily predicted long before they’re shown on screen. Eric Lee and Erica Li wrote the unimpressive screenplay, which is populated with hollow characters and dull dialogue. Making things worse, most of the acting in the movie is atrocious.

“Customs Frontline” tells the story of Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department agents going on the hunt for an elusive and mysterious arms smuggler named Dr. Raw (played by Amanda Strang), whose arsenal ranges from guns to bombs to submarines with missiles. Strang’s stiff and vacant acting as Dr. Raw is so pitifully bad, this character is unconvincing as someone who would even know how to use a toy gun, let alone have the type of massive supply of weapons that is supposed to make her a dangerous terrorist. And for a chief villain, Dr. Raw is not in the movie as much as you think she might be.

Instead, “Customs Frontline” has mostly generic and anonymous goons in showdowns with the customs agents. The movie is overpopulated with unnecessary characters who show up and then disappear in subplots that go nowhere. And needless to say, many scenes in this movie look rushed and jumbled.

The “heroes” of the story are a disjointed group of agents. Chow Ching-lai (played by Nicholas Tse) is the principled protagonist, whose boss and mentor Cheung Wan-nam (played by Jacky Cheung) has bipolar disorder. The movie’s depiction of this mental illness is problematic for how it plays up the worst clichés of bipolar disorder by having a lot of over-exaggerated acting.

A flashback scene shows a doctor telling Wan-nam that Wan-nam has a high EQ (emotional quotient, also known as emotional intelligence), but Wan-nam has bipolar disorder where he can self-harm when he’s in a manic state. And sure enough, the movie shows some of this self-harm later when Wan-nam gets some bad news and deliberately presses a hot iron on his left shoulder to burn himself. The self-harm gets worse.

Wan-nam’s girlfriend is Athena Siu (played by Karena Lam), who is the custom department’s assistant commissioner of customs and excise. Wan-nam’s demanding and disrespectful boss is Kwok Chi-keung (played by Francis Ng), the custom department’s assistant commissioner, who often belittles Wan-man. There are multiple scenes where Wan-nam gripes about Chi-keung to Athena, and they try to think of ways to make Wan-nam’s life easier on the job. “I’ll beat Kwok for you,” Athena tells Wan-nam.

Early on in the movie, agents from Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department find a unaccounted-for cargo ship that has arrived from Thailand and is filled with weapons that are believed to be stolen. When the agents go to investigate the ship, they find out too late that it’s a trap set by Dr. Raw. Several customs agents are killed by Dr. Raw’s thugs in this ambush, including Ching-lai’s ex-gilfriend Katie (played by Michelle Wai). By the way, do these “hero” customs agents know how to date anyone who isn’t a co-worker?

Not long after this massacre, a Thai intelligence officer named Ying (played by Michelle Wai) arrives from Thailand to investigate. She teams up with Ching-lai to do some undercover work. The movie shows them posing as journalists in Africa, where they visit the fictional country of Lokumoa and interview leaders who tell them about how dangerous illegal arms have been to the people in their country. Note to the “Customs Frontline” filmmakers: You don’t have to pretend to be a journalist to find out that information.

While in Africa, Yin and Ching-lai suddenly get caught in an explosion attack. It’s a laughably terrible scene with sloppy editing. At one point, Dr. Raw is hiding out in Egypt, where she utters more ridiculous lines while dressed as if she’s going to business cocktail party. Scene after scene is just all time-wasting nonsense that are often just an excuse to have mindless shoot-outs, explosions, ship crashes and fist fights.

During one of these fights, an opponent of Ching-lai asks him, “Why are you doing this?” He replies in a monotone voice, “It’s my duty.” When the opponent gets wheeled away by a medical responder, the opponent asks Ching-lai: “Why did you save me?” Ching-lai says in the same flat voice: “It’s my duty.” You can see better acting in a lot video games with computer-generated image characters.

“Customs Frontline” is loud and bombastic in all the wrong ways because the movie just isn’t interesting and is actually quite lazy when it comes to the story. The movie’s characters might as well be robots because they have the personalities of monotonous robots, except for the horrible depiction of Wan-nam’s bipolar disorder. “Customs Frontline” is one of those movies that is unlikely to be remembered by most people who see it unless anyone is unfortunate enough to get a headache from watching this noisy mess.

Well Go USA released “Customs Frontline” on July 19, 2024. The movie was released in Hong Kong on July 5, 2024.

Review: ‘We 12,’ starring Mirror

May 5, 2024

by Carla Hay

Pictured from left to right: Tiger Yau, Lokman Yeung, Anson Kong, Edan Lui, Alton Wong, Jer Lau, Anson Lo, Keung To, Ian Chan, Stanley Yau and Jeremy Lee in “We 12” (Photo by Edko Films Ltd.)

“We 12”

Directed by Berry Ho

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong, the action film “We 12” features a predominantly Asian cast of characters (with one white person) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: The 12 estranged members of a crime-fighting group are summoned by their boss to work together again to find and confiscate an evil scientific invention that will destroy the world’s ecosystem.

Culture Audience: “We 12” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Mirror, because they are probably the only ones who might be willing to overlook all the flaws of this vapid and uninteresting movie.

Edan Lui, Jeremy Lee, Jer Lau, Stanley Yau, Lokman Yeung, Anson Lo, Keung To, Ian Chan, Anson Kong, Tiger Yau, Alton Wong and Frankie Chan in “We 12” (Photo by Edko Films Ltd.)

“We 12” is a disappointing mush of missed opportunities. What could have been an entertaining action romp starring singing group Mirror as a crime-fighting crew becomes an incoherent mess by the middle of the film. The group doesn’t even sing in the movie.

Directed by Berry Ho and written by Cheung Lai Sze, “We 12” is more obvious about its “cash grab” intentions than most ill-conceived movies starring pop singers. That’s because almost no effort was made to come up with a good story. “We 12” also fails to showcase the individual personalities of the 12 members of Mirror, a group that was formed in 2018, on the Hong Kong reality TV show/talent “Good Night Show – King Maker.”

In “We 12,” the members of the group are reduced to being identified mainly by the special skill each character with not much to make their personalities unique and distinctive. The members of Mirror portrays estranged members of the Kaito Association, a group of crime fighters who have secretive missions. Here are the roles that the members of Mirror have in “We 12”:

Frankie Chan is Kaito Frankie, whose specialty is sixth sense.
Ian Chan is Kaito Ian, whose specialty is strategic planning.
Anson Kong is Kaito AK, whose specialty is animal telepathy.
Jer Lau is Kaito Jer, whose specialty is disguise.
Jeremy Lee is Kaito Jeremy, whose specialty is super memory.
Anson Lo is Kaito A.Lo, whose specialty is agility.
Edan Lui is Kaito Edan, whose specialty is abseiling.
Keung To is Kaito KT, whose specialty is hypnosis.
Alton Wong is Kaito Alton, whose specialty is cyber attacks.
Stanley Yau is Kaito Stanley, whose specialty is eavesdropping.
Tiger Yau is Kaito Tiger, whose specialty is lip reading.
Lokman Yeung is Kaito Lokman, whose specialty is lock picking.

These members of the Kaito Association are summoned by an unseen supervisor called The Boss (voiced by Kenny Wong Tak Bun, also known as Tak-Bun Wong), who communicates with them only by phone on an emergency hotline. The Boss gathers them for a secret mission and says they have to put aside their conflicts to work on this mission. The Boss tells them about the Forbidden Science Society, which is doing harmful things that must be stopped. For example, the Forbidden Science Society has genetically engineered chicken called right wing chicken, which causes cancer when consumed.

The mission assigned to the Kaito Association is about an evil scientist professor (played by Barry Cox), who has invented a mosquito zapper, which seems like a useful invention, since mosquitos are considered a nuisance. However, The Boss explains that the professor’s goal is to eradicate mosquitos in the entire multiverse, which would cause an ecological imbalance. The Kaito Association’s mission is to find and destroy the mosquito zapper.

The rest of “We 12” consists of a jumble of scenes where the Kaito Association members use their special skills in this good versus evil mission. The dance skills of the members of Mirror certainly look like they come in handy for some of the choreographed fights and stunts. However, these fights just fill up time and don’t do much to enhance the thin and flimsy plot. The movie has two types of dialogue: forgettable or simply atrocious.

“We 12” is also uneven in how it only has a few members stand out with the most memorable tricks. Jer, as the master of disguises, goes undercover as a bartender during a scene at an upscale party. But then, the movie has other members of the group also disguise themselves at the same party: Ian and Tiger are dressed as waiters, while Edan is a violinist. It muddles the purpose of Jer being the main “disguise” guy.

Stanley and Lokman disguise themselves as bellhops at a hotel, where AK sees a German Shepherd and can read its mind. The mind reading of the dog is supposed to be hilarious, but it’s just a nonsensical scene that might elicit a few mild chuckles. A.Lo is supposed to be the most agile, yet he gets himself into a situation that contradicts this special ability.

“We 12” never explains why these members of the Kaito Association were estranged in the first place. And for a group of heartthrobs, it’s strange that they have no love interests in the movie. The only female character with a real speaking role in “We 12” is a pretty young woman named Princess (played by Lin Min-Chen), who randomly shows up once in a while to say something cute and then leaves again.

It’s certainly possible to do an entertaining heist film with more than 10 members in the heist group having personalities that are every easy to distinguish from each other. (For example: director Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean Eleven,” “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen” movies.) The members of Mirror aren’t outstanding actors, but they aren’t terrible actors either. They’re just in a terrible movie. Tiger (playful), Jer (mischievous) and A.Lo (suave) are the characters who have the most memorable personalities in “We 12.”

It seems like such a waste to have this ensemble film not do much to give all 12 members of Mirror a chance to equally shine in what could have been an adventure film that’s fun to watch. “We 12” is one of those bad movies that uses the end credits to show bloopers and deleted scenes, where the cast members laugh at their mistakes and joke around with each other. All this demonstrates is that the stars of the movie had a lot more fun making the movie than viewers will have enjoying it.

Edko Films Ltd. released “We 12” in select U.S. cinemas on April 26, 2024. The movie was released in Hong Kong on March 28, 2024.

Review: ‘Time Still Turns the Pages,’ starring Lo Chun Yip, Sean Wong, Curtis Ho, Ronald Cheng, Rosa Maria Velasco, Sabrina Ng and Henick Chou

January 24, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Time Still Turns the Pages”

Directed by Nick Cheuk

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong, the dramatic film “Time Still Turns the Pages” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A teacher at a high school finds out that one of his students has anonymous written a suicidal note, which prompts an investigation and triggers memories of his own unhappy childhood.

Culture Audience: “Time Still Turns the Pages” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching emotionally moving films about effects that depression and anxiety can have on people and the dangers of not properly treating these mental health issues.

Sean Wong and Curtis Ho in “Time Still Turns the Pages” (Photo courtesy of Illume Films)

“Time Still Turns the Pages” is a meaningful and well-acted drama about the effects of child abuse, as well as how loneliness, depression and anxiety are often mishandled or ignored. Without being too preachy, the movie has a message of being more aware and more compassionate of people who might be having these issues. Although the movie isn’t ultra-violent in showing the child abuse, some of these abuse scenes might be very disturbing to some viewers.

Written and directed by Nick Cheuk, “Time Still Turns the Pages” (which takes place in Hong Kong) begins by showing a 10-year-old boy jumping off of the roof of a high-rise building. Viewers later find out that the boy’s name is Eli Cheng (played by Sean Wong), and he is several flashback scenes that show what led him to get to this suicidal point. Did he survive or did he die? The movie answers that question.

Meanwhile, in the present day, at Lo Fuk Tong High School, a teacher named Mr. Cheng (played by Lo Chun Yip) is aware that some of his students are involved in bullying fights at the school. Near the beginning of the movie, a student named Vincent, nicknamed Van Gogh (played by Henick Chou), is shown getting reprimanded in the school principal’s office because he pushed another student down some stairs. Vincent has injuries on his face that indicate he was in a physical fight. Vincent is one of Mr. Cheng’s students.

The movie leaves it open to interpretation about who started the fight until a flashback scene later in the film reveals the full story. There are several examples of how “Time Still Turns the Pages” shows something that seems to be about one thing but reveals it’s actually about another thing. Writer/director Cheuk seamlessly weaves various timelines and story threads together in ways that are creative and poignant without being emotionally manipulative.

One day, Mr. Cheng finds out that a school janitor (played by Peter Lau) has discovered an unsigned suicidal note in Mr. Cheng’s classroom. The note was written by a student and says things such as “I am worth nothing to anyone” and “I could be easily forgotten.” Mr. Cheng is deeply affected by this note and wants to find out who wrote it.

During a meeting with other faculty and staff members about the note, there is some debate over how to find out who wrote the note. The general consensus is that it’s a delicate matter that should be handled with discretion. When the school’s social worker Halena (played by Luna Shaw) suggests that the note is a hoax that could be plagiarism from something off of the Internet, Mr. Cheng explodes with anger and says the note is not a hoax.

Eventually, it’s decided that the a trustworthy student will be enlisted by the school officials to help with the investigation. The chosen student is a class prefect named Bethany (played by Sabrina Ng), who is later revealed to have some past emotional issues of her own. The investigation weighs heavily on Mr. Cheng because he is afraid that one of his students could commit suicide before getting any professional help or counseling to prevent the suicide.

Mr. Cheng’s emotional outburst at the faculty meeting is because he has been triggered by his own memories of an unhappy childhood. The movie has various flashbacks to showing the Cheng family, which includes his abusive father Hung Cheng (played by Ronald Cheng), who is a successful attorney; Hung’s fearful wife Heidi Cheng (played by Rosa Maria Velasco), who is a homemaker; sensitive Eli Cheng; and his overachieving brother Alan Cheng (played by Curtis Ho), who is one or two years younger than Eli. These flashbacks show that Hung verbally, emotionally and physically abuses Eli and Heidi, while Alan is considered the “golden child” of the family.

Eli frequently gets punished for not getting the academic grades that his parents expect from him. And although his mother Heidi is also a victim of Hung’s abuse, she is occasionally abusive to Eli too. She sometimes says hateful insults to Eli or slaps him hard, so that she doesn’t get punished by Hung for being too “soft” on Eli. Heidi also inflicts this cruelty out of her own self-hatred and because she’s taking a lot of her anger out on Eli. Other times, she comforts Eli and is very loving to him. It’s a realistic portrayal of an abused parent who is trapped in a miserable marriage and is conflicted about how to handle it.

During Eli’s childhood, Alan seemed to keep an emotional distance from him, as if he didn’t want to be associated with his underachiever brother. Eli found comfort in reading comic books, an activity his father despised. Eli’s favorite comic book series was called “Pirate,” and he greatly admired. Eli eventually started a secret journal to write down his innermost thoughts. He also became emotionally attached to his piano teacher Miss Chan (played by Jessica Chan), a young woman who was the only adult who was consistently kind to Eli in his home.

Mr. Cheng’s flashbacks also show that he got married to a voice actress named Sherry (played by Hanna Chan), whom he met when they were teenagers. Sherry and Mr. Cheng dated other people but reconnected later in life, fell in love with each other, and got married. This marriage was negatively affected by Mr. Cheng’s unresolved issues from his childhood and his memories of his own parents’ bad marriage. Sherry and Mr. Cheng have moments that are happy and unhappy. A turning point in their marriage happens when it comes to a decision made about family planning in their relationship.

“Time Still Turns the Pages” will take viewers on a very emotional journey in finding out more about Mr. Cheng and what happened in his family, as well as how his childhood trauma affects him in his current life. The movie takes a necessary and empathetic look at how people who show signs of anxiety and depression are often misunderstood and punished, which makes their mental health issues worse. “Time Still Turns the Pages” will make a lasting impression on viewers to be more aware of warning signs in suicidal people and to reach out and help as much as possible.

Illume Films released “Time Still Turns the Pages” in select U.S. cinemas on January 19, 2024. The movie was released in Hong Kong on November 16, 2023.

Review: ‘Mad Fate,’ starring Gordon Lam and Lokman Yeung

August 22, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Mad Fate”

Directed by Cheang Pou-soi

Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong, the dramatic film “Mad Fate” has an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A fortune teller becomes obsessed with tracking a young man who is a serial killer.

Culture Audience: “Mad Fate” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching an artsy pyschological thriller.

Gordon Lam in “Mad Fate” (Photo courtesy of Illume Films)

“Mad Fate” is about a cat-and-mouse chase between a fortune teller and a serial killer. This frequently bizarre and psychedelic-looking murder mystery isn’t for everyone, but there’s enough to hold viewer interest until the very end. It’s the type of movie that requires a viewer’s full attention because some important details might be missed if a viewer is distracted by other things while watching the movie.

Directed by Cheang Pou-soi and written by Yau Nai-hoi and Melvin Li, “Mad Fate” had its world premiere at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. The movie begins by showing a fortune teller called The Master (played by Gordon Lam) doing a ritual in a graveyard. The Master’s specialty is telling his customers that he can help change their destiny. It’s implied that The Master dabbles in the dark arts.

The Master soon finds out about a man in his 20s named Siu-tung (played by Lokman Yeung), who has developed a fascination for becoming a serial killer. The majority of the film s about The Master trying to track down Siu-tung before any killings happen to see if he can change the destiny of the intended victims.

“Mad Fate” has a lot of suspense but the movie also touches on serious issues such as mental illness and criminal justice. Is The Master a vigilante, or is he a well-meaning citizen? If Siu-tung is captured, should be be in prison or a psychiatric facility? “Mad Fate,” through riveting but somewhat convoluted direction, leaves it up to viewers to decide.

Illume Films released “Mad Fate” in select U.S. cinemas on August 11, 2023.

Review: ‘The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell,’ starring Aaron Kwok, Louis Koo and Sean Lau

July 27, 2023

by Carla Hay

Aaron Kwok and Sean Lau in “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“The White Shadow 3: Heaven or Hell”

Directed by Herman Yau

Cantonese and Thai with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Hong Kong and in Thailand, the action film “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class, wealthy and the criminal underground.

Culture Clash: Two undercover cops from Hong Kong have conflicts with each other when they gain the trust of drug dealer and escape with him to the Golden Triangle.

Culture Audience: “The White Storm 3: Heaven and Hell” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching loud and obnoxious action flicks that have jumbled storytelling.

Louis Koo and Sean Lau in “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” (Photo courtesy of CMC Pictures)

“The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” is a sloppily edited mess that jumps around too much in the story’s non-chronological timeline. This substandard action movie also does nothing new or interesting with a plot about undercover cops and drug dealers. The films in Hong Kong’s “The White Storm” movie series have no connection to each other, except that they are all action movies about undercover cops trying to arrest big-time drug dealers. Unfortunately, “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” has no connection to quality filmmaking.

Written and directed by Herman Yau, “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” has three main characters (two cops and one drug dealer) who get caught up in a crime caper filled with deception, false identities and issues over trust and loyalty. In the beginning of the movie, two undercover police officers from Hong Kong’s Narcotics Bureau are part of a major drug bust that takes place at a harbor on the high seas south of Kong Kong. Young cop Cheung Kin-hang (played by Aaron Kwok) is more impulsive and more likely to take risks than his older colleague Au Chi-yuen (played by Louis Koo), who is much more methodical and “by the book.”

A ship at this harbor is carrying about $300 million worth of heroin that was hauled out of metal trash bins hidden in the sea. King-hang and Chi-yuen have both been tasked with arresting drug lord Hong So-chai (played by Sean Lau), nicknamed Suchat, as well as Suchat’s gang, who are responsible for this drug shipment. During this drug bust, several members of the gang get arrested, by Suchat gets away.

Heroin is the main drug that Suchat’s sells, but he’s also dealer of methamphetamine, nicknamed ice. Suchat meets King-hang and Chi-yuen while these two cops are undercover. King-han’s alias is Billy. Chi-yuen’s alias is Wing. King-hang is able to win over Suchat’s trust easier because King-hang gets shot during a police raid where Suchat flees. Suchat sees it as a sign of loyalty that King-hang “took a bullet” for Suchat.

Through a series of events that are muddled, because the movie’s three-year timeline goes back and forth in haphazard ways, all three men end up hiding out together in the Golden Triangle, near the border of Thailand and Myanmar. They also spend time in Laem Chabang, Thailand. King-hang and Chi-yuen pretend to be outlaws with Suchat.

The foundation of Suchat’s drug-dealing business comes from the opiate poppy-harvesting work done by local villagers, who rely on this money to survive. King-hang meets a young female harvester named Noon (played by Yang Caiyu), who lives with her ailing grandfather in one of these villages. King-hang and Noon are attracted to each other, but King-hang doesn’t want to blow his cover by telling her his true identity.

What happens to the potential romance between King-hang and Noon is very easy to predict in this violent story that’s just a bunch of scenes with characters lying to each other and fighting each other. Here’s an example of the mind-numbing and idiotic dialogue in the movie. Noon tells King-hang soon after they meet that she does not know why the region where she lives is called the Golden Triangle: “I’ve never seen any gold … We can barely make money to feed ourselves.”

The car chases, shootouts, explosions in “The White Storm3: Heaven or Hell” are all just distractions from the movie’s very flimsy plot. The acting and dialogue in the movie are very generic or just outright terrible. “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” is just another soulless action flick with nothing uniquely distinctive about it. It’s most definitely a type of hell to watch for viewers who want an action movie with an enthralling story and compelling characters.

CMC Pictures released “The White Storm 3: Heaven or Hell” in select U.S. cinemas on July 20, 2023. The movie was released in China on July 6, 2023, and in Hong Kong on July 27, 2023.