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South China Morning Post

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
4/5
Ciao UFO (2019) Edmund Lee Ciao UFO proves a remarkably effective piece of storytelling, resonating both as a touching character drama and as an elegy for a vanished "golden age" that now exists only in [Hong Kong’s] collective memory.
Posted Mar 20, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Gamer Girls (2025) Edmund Lee The film boasts an ambitious array of vibrant DIY visual effects. These impressive renderings of the in-game world make this otherwise conventional, dream-chasing story far more infectious than it has any right to be.
Posted Mar 11, 2026  Edit critic review
2/5
Project Hail Mary (2026) James Mottram Ryan Gosling flies almost entirely solo in Project Hail Mary, a disappointingly derivative sci-fi mash-up of Interstellar, The Martian and Tom Hanks’ desert island drama Cast Away.
Posted Mar 11, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Girlfriends (2025) Edmund Lee Though it hardly marks a creative breakthrough for the director, Girlfriends lingers as an intimate portrait of a woman looking back to find her way forward.
Posted Mar 07, 2026  Edit critic review
2/5
Ultimate Revenge (2026) Edmund Lee Viewers who like their cops-and-robbers thrillers loud, frenetic and illogical are in for a blast with Ultimate Revenge, an unabashedly derivative addition to Hong Kong’s once-feted action cinema tradition.
Posted Mar 07, 2026  Edit critic review
4/5
Hoppers (2026) James Mottram Hoppers manages a perfect high-wire act, working both as a thoroughly entertaining family film and something rich with adult themes.
Posted Mar 04, 2026  Edit critic review
2/5
Scare Out (2026) James Marsh While this nifty premise sets up a series of absorbing set pieces, the screenplay proves convoluted and confusing, frequently mistaking a lack of information for mystery and intrigue.
Posted Mar 04, 2026  Edit critic review
2.5/5
A New Dawn (2026) James Mottram One cannot help but feel it is all a bit of a hodgepodge, as the filmmaker throws everything at the anime wall to see what sticks.
Posted Mar 04, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Panda Plan 2: The Magical Tribe (2026) James Marsh Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe defies all expectations as a marked improvement on its predecessor in almost every conceivable way.
Posted Mar 04, 2026  Edit critic review
4/5
We Are All Strangers (2026) James Mottram It is a beautiful conclusion to this loose 13-year trilogy, proving Chen has fully matured as a filmmaker.
Posted Mar 04, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Blades of the Guardians (2026) Edmund Lee Blades of the Guardians may not rank among the greatest wuxia films ever made, but it is easily one of the fiercest entries we have had in years.
Posted Feb 17, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Night King (2026) Edmund Lee Despite the disjointed pacing and glitzy packaging, Night King remains fun to watch and offers a largely crowd-pleasing spectacle of survival against the odds.
Posted Feb 17, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/5
The Snowball on a Sunny Day (2026) Edmund Lee Part sweet tear-jerker, part love letter to Hong Kong cinema and the craft of filmmaking, this Lunar New Year offering reveals an unexpectedly whimsical side of the writer-director Philip Yung.
Posted Feb 14, 2026  Edit critic review
4/5
Wuthering Heights (2026) James Mottram Fennell’s take on Emily Bronte’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights has the substance to back it up. Beautifully costumed, designed, shot and performed, the film is an impeccably made tale of doomed lovers, one that will bring a tear to the eye.
Posted Feb 13, 2026  Edit critic review
4/5
Tokyo Taxi (2025) James Marsh Even at 84, Baisho remains a magnetic screen presence, drawing us in with a performance that deftly sidesteps histrionic grandstanding in favour of a subtle humanity to make Tokyo Taxi an utterly captivating ride.
Posted Feb 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/5
All You Need Is Kill (2025) James Marsh Akimoto proves here that he has a unique and exciting visual sensibility, capable of elevating an otherwise conventional exercise in sci-fi escapism into a work rich with bold artistic flourish.
Posted Feb 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Send Help (2026) James Mottram Fans of Raimi’s trademark comic gore will get a kick out of the excess.
Posted Feb 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Mercy (2026) James Mottram The film is tense and, at its best, depicts an eerily familiar world, where drones, body cams, mobile phones and doorbell cameras capture our every move.
Posted Feb 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Unexpected Family (2026) James Marsh Short on action but long on ham-fisted life lessons, the debut feature from writer-director Li Taiyan seems tailor-made for the Chinese holiday season, with its fast-paced blend of slapstick humour, domestic squabbles and climactic melodrama.
Posted Feb 13, 2026  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Gezhi Town (2025) James Marsh By championing the heroism and sacrifices of ordinary civilians, and shifting focus away from patriotic rhetoric to intimate character dynamics, the film proves surprisingly entertaining.
Posted Jan 27, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Primate (2025) James Marsh Fans of stripped-down, unmuzzled Friday-night bloodletting will have a grand old time, as Ben’s frenzied antics result in a procession of face-rippings, skull-crushings and other unflinchingly feral deaths.
Posted Jan 27, 2026  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Finch & Midland (2025) Edmund Lee It is a testament to the cast’s skill that they manage to wring moments of genuine emotion from such heavy-handed material, which mistakes grimness for profundity.
Posted Jan 14, 2026  Edit critic review
4/5
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026) James Mottram DaCosta’s morally complex thriller sets us up for a grandstand finish.
Posted Jan 14, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
The Thing with Feathers (2025) James Mottram The terrible burden of grief is laid bare in The Thing with Feathers, a gloomy but undeniably touching drama.
Posted Jan 14, 2026  Edit critic review
3/5
Back to the Past (2025) Edmund Lee A subpar historical sci-fi fantasy that is saved – and arguably even transcended – by the potent wave of nostalgia it inspires in its target audience.
Posted Dec 31, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Pass and Goal (2025) Edmund Lee This feel-good, family-friendly offering defies expectations with its infectious positivity and cheeky humour.
Posted Dec 20, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Two Seasons, Two Strangers (2025) James Marsh A beautifully staged and delicately poised rumination on the parallels between writing and travel.
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Under Current (2025) Edmund Lee Under Current is a quintessential example of the Hong Kong crime film in its present, transitional state. While it paints a mostly watchable portrait of greed and corruption, the film’s story also happens to be thoroughly detached from reality.
Posted Dec 06, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Road to Vendetta (2025) Edmund Lee Road to Vendetta, a violent, John Wick-inspired action thriller co-produced by Hong Kong and Japan, delivers as a pop idol vehicle with its ample visual style. [But] the film’s screenplay appears multiple revisions away from telling a convincing story.
Posted Dec 06, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Someone Like Me (2025) Edmund Lee Acting accolades may naturally follow Liew in the coming awards season, although it will be fascinating to see where Tam’s directing career goes next after such a daring, sensitive work that stays so true to her own vision.
Posted Dec 03, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Zootopia 2 (2025) James Mottram It is not "Pixar at its peak" levels, but Zootopia 2 will delight kids craving a bit of pre-Christmas sparkle.
Posted Nov 28, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Golden Boy (2025) Edmund Lee This hot-blooded but generic tale about perseverance works better as a record of Cheung’s sheer determination to reinvent himself than as the artistic breakout that he had hoped it would be.
Posted Nov 25, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Against All Odds (2025) James Marsh While Against All Odds is smaller and scrappier than most recent Chinese war movies, Lau’s bold endeavour punches well above its weight and makes the compelling case that an engaging story is always worth fighting for.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
5/5
Kokuho (2025) James Marsh Anchored by an astonishing central performance from Ryo Yoshizawa and a fastidious devotion to the traditional art of kabuki theatre, Lee Sang-il’s sumptuous saga Kokuho emerges as the finest Japanese film of the year.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025) James Mottram Despite the convincing sleight of hand, conjuring excitement is one thing this film fails to do.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
2/5
96 Minutes (2025) James Marsh Hung’s ambitious screenplay poses some legitimate moral quandaries about the value of one life against another. ... Unfortunately, 96 Minutes lacks the narrative dexterity to draw much of a conclusion beyond revenge definitely being bad.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Another World (2025) Edmund Lee While the innocent looks of its two protagonists and the Japanese anime-inspired fantasy action scenes might suggest otherwise, Another World is a morally complex film that repeatedly challenges its characters with circumstances of extreme evil.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Black Phone 2 (2025) James Mottram With Hawke’s bogeyman right up there with some of cinema’s most terrifying villains, this is an unsettling addition to Derrickson’s impressive canon.
Posted Nov 14, 2025  Edit critic review
1.5/5
Measure in Love (2025) Edmund Lee This high-concept fantasy romance ... asks its audience to succumb to the supposedly poetic swooning of its star-crossed lovers – only to make it a very tall order indeed with a criminally underdeveloped set-up and an unfathomably illogical plot.
Posted Oct 03, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Sons of the Neon Night (2025) Edmund Lee To focus on the convoluted, nearly kaleidoscopic story... would be to miss the pleasures of this ambitious effort, which oozes dark humour in its often cynical dialogue and boasts spectacular production design that renders every location a little surreal.
Posted Sep 30, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Dollhouse (2025) James Marsh Packed with jumps, scares, skin-crawling stand-offs and breathless belly laughs, Dollhouse emerges as a delightful surprise, while Nagasawa leads a cast of accomplished veterans in a committed performance of unwavering confusion and abject terror.
Posted Sep 25, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Good News (2025) James Marsh A riotously entertaining black comedy about the nature of truth, the power of propaganda and the delicate intricacies of international cooperation.
Posted Sep 25, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Good Game (2025) Edmund Lee While the decision to shoot the gameplay scenes in live action is a refreshing way to convey the virtual experience, Good Game is otherwise too conceptually lightweight and artificially inspirational in its telling of the players’ personal stories.
Posted Sep 19, 2025  Edit critic review
4.5/5
One Battle After Another (2025) Daniel Eagan Compared to this, Anderson’s last two outings – the Pynchon-derived Inherent Vice and Licorice Pizza – were lightweight efforts. One Battle After Another finds the director at the peak of his power and is sure to be an awards contender.
Posted Sep 18, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
The Ugly (2024) James Marsh Yeon sets up a fascinating premise. ... Where the film falls down spectacularly, however, is by failing to reconcile these intriguing threads into a satisfying conclusion.
Posted Sep 17, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
The Remnant (2024) Edmund Lee This feature debut by Kwan Man-hin is confident enough to rely on the strength of its likeable leads and not succumb to cheap humour. The Remnant is a largely engaging watch, its uneven pacing offset by a narrative that takes fairly surprising turns.
Posted Sep 12, 2025  Edit critic review
1/5
Operation Hadal (2025) James Marsh Unlike his earlier operatics, Lam seems genuinely out of his depth here, lost at sea beneath a tsunami of quasi-futuristic techno-weaponry and some janky visual effects.
Posted Sep 11, 2025  Edit critic review
2/5
Kowloon Generic Romance (2025) James Marsh While the aesthetic pleasures of this unique setting are legitimate and obvious, nothing else about Kowloon Generic Romance makes a lick of sense.
Posted Sep 11, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Silent Friend (2025) James Mottram Enyedi never quite finds a way to gel these three distinct stories, despite the presence of some fine actors, including a soulful Leung. But the film does feature some mesmerising time-lapse photography.
Posted Sep 06, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
The Sun Rises on Us All (2025) James Mottram Perhaps the film could have been a little less opaque, but Cai controls the rhythm and pacing with skill. The result is a careful accumulation of little moments that leave a big impact.
Posted Sep 06, 2025  Edit critic review
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