Title: Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong
Director: Emily Ting
Starring: Jamie Chung, Bryan Greenberg, Sarah Lian, Jaden Cheng, Richard Ng, Linda Trinh.
Director Emily Ting is a groundbreaking female filmmaker. Her analysis of the prelude to love can recall that of Richard Linklater: ‘Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong’ could very well be the Asian adaptation of the trilogy ‘’Before Sunrise-Before Sunset-Before Midnight.’
In Ting’s spirited romance, Ruby, a Chinese American toy designer from Los Angeles, visits Hong Kong for the first time on business. Finding herself stranded, she meets Josh, an American expat who shows her the city. While both are Americans, Josh has been living in Hong Kong for a decade, while working at an investment bank. This is the unexpected approach Ting takes in confronting the Asian and Western culture, where the Waspy broker knows all about the Cantonese culture, whereas the L.A.-Girl-of-Chinese-descent only speaks American and is accustomed to the Californian lifestyle.
Meandering through night time streets pulsing with energy and possibility, Ruby and Josh fall into a winding and carefree conversation, buoyed by an undeniable attraction. There is a witty and astute inversion of cultures. Ting’s screenplay gives them plenty to talk about, from East-West relationship stereotypes to homesickness, finance and ‘Seinfeld.’ The two strangers in the night discuss their ambitions and careers, with Ruby urging Josh to follow his dreams of quitting banking to become a writer. Just as things are starting to get interesting, a key miscommunication breaks the spell, and they awkwardly part ways; only to reconnect a year later, with uncharted odds regarding their romance.
Lead actors Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg are a real-life couple, and they naturally generate great chemistry on screen. The actress who plays Mulan in television series ‘Once Upon A Time’ and her husband who is Ben Epstein in the HBO series ‘How To Make It in America’, make sparks fly in Emily Ting’s charming directorial debut. This movie is a true delight for those who fall in love cerebrally and are firm believers that serendipity is the key to life.
Technical: B
Acting: A
Story: A+
Overall: A-
Written by: Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
