Summary
An alternatively tense and understated bit of speculative fiction, this collaborative production is a slick affair that is one of the better recent examples of genre fare.
This year has significantly changed what our vision of the end times might look like. It’s not masses of zombies punctuated by a fight for survival, but rather hours in front of the TV and rediscovering a love for jigsaw puzzles.
Nevertheless, director Joshua Wong has used his feature debut to take a glimpse into Hong Kong’s possible future. In the wake of melting polar icecaps, Hong Kong is just a series of taller building protruding from the water. Asha (Kara Wang from TV’s Good Trouble) survives by scavenging floating remnants of the old world and keep her head down. Her survival instincts are tested when a small girl enters her life, making it harder to avoid the predatory men who patrol the same waters.
This isn’t the first time that Hong Kong’s future has been imagined. When Ten Years debuted in 2015, the dystopian anthology film anticipated protest reactions and was condemned by Mainland Chinese authorities as a result. Wong’s film plays it a little safer by concentrating on the sci-fi angle, focusing on character and toying with audience anticipation.
Sitting somewhere between Waterworld and A Quiet Place, THE CALM BEYOND works best as a straight thriller. From the beginning, Wong and co-writer Heather Gornall don’t bother with lengthy explanations as to how the world got this way. It just is – and over the course of the film’s 95 minute runtime, the viewer spends the time in a sense of heightened anticipation.
Blending the gorgeous work of cinematographer Nathan Wong (The Sinking City: Capsule Odyssey) with speculative CG, Wong has created a mostly seamless environment that looks and feels lived-in. The rest of the film is a more claustrophobic affair, with dark waterlogged rooms and a handful of nameless villains searching for them. The climax is genuinely gripping.
With an ambiguous ending, Wang seems to imply that Asha’s story could go in several directions. Indeed, with a planned new sci-fi series, Invasion, director Wong seems to be leaning towards bigger world building and storytelling. Either way, THE CALM BEYOND represents a strong development in contemporary Hong Kong filmmaking, one that has a universal outlook while maintaining a unique worldview.
2020 | Hong Kong| DIRECTOR: Joshua Wong | WRITER: Joshua Wong, Heather Gornall | CAST: Kara Wang, Sarinna Boggs, Terence Yin | DISTRIBUTOR: Adelaide Film Festival (AUS)| RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 14 – 28 October 2020 (AFF)
Read more coverage of Hong Kong cinema from the silent era to festivals and other contemporary releases. Plus go beyond Hong Kong with more film from Asia in Focus.
