Missing film review: Gillian Chung in spooky Hong Kong chiller about alternate realities
- Starring Gillian Chung, Ling Man-lung and Joey Leung, Missing is an atmospheric film that doesn't resort to genre clichés
- It is an encouraging debut for director Ronnie Chau, though some of the acting may test viewers' patience
3/5 stars
At long last a Hong Kong chiller that doesn't solely count on inconsequential jump scares to maintain audience interest.
Missing, an atmospheric feature debut by director Ronnie Chau (best known for his controversial short film My Life Planning), is that rare local attempt at horror filmmaking to have enough confidence in its story that it doesn't resort to genre cliches.
Scripted by Chau and screenwriter Pang Chi-hoi from an internet novel published in 2016, Missing revolves around the urban legend of a gateway into another world purportedly situated in the hills of Hong Kong's Sai Kung peninsula. Unfortunately finding herself in the thick of this mystery is social worker Ying (Gillian Chung Yan-tung), whose policeman father (Ko Hon-man) vanished during a hike in the area seven years ago.
Ying has been estranged from her mother (Candice Yu On-on) over the latter's ostensible resolve to forget about her missing husband and move on. Ying's prolonged sense of grief is intensified when her father's colleague in the force, Nam (JJ Jia Xiaochen), gets in touch to report that her father's police badge has been newly found by the eccentric owner of a hiking equipment store, Yin (Joey Leung Cho-yiu).
Yin has a theory that there are portals everywhere which, when they're open, allow living people to temporarily enter an "enchanted realm" of wandering spirits. Intrigued, Ying soon starts to have supernatural encounters that appear to support the outrageous hypothesis. Before long, she, Nam and Yin are on a quest to find answers in the forest where Ying's father went missing.
Running alongside Ying's story is that of her neighbour Ching (Ling Man-lung), a salaryman cracking under the pressure of caring for his dementia-stricken mother (Josephine Koo Mei-wah) " their paths will cross in this gloomy tale of family conflicts.
Missing is no doubt at its spookiest when it pictures a parallel reality where murderers and their victims appear to live out their actions in limbo. Despite its beguiling premise, however, it's safe to say the film isn't the finest hour for nuanced acting.
While former pop idol Chung does a passable job at channelling the woman tortured by family loss and paranormal encounters, Leung and Ling " incidentally both acclaimed stage actors " may test some viewers' patience with their exaggerated portrayals of the psychologically disturbed.
For all its flaws, though, Missing does seem to indicate a quiet confidence about Chau in the way he navigates the lesser-known corners of a well-worn genre. This is an encouraging debut " no more but no less.
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