The latest film from Hong Kong’s New Wave director, Ann Hui, is the story of the brutal murder of a family. What happened to the family, smiling brightly in a photograph? Along with statements from people around the family, their hidden family secrets are revealed. The film slowly reveals how patriarchal violence met with China’s political and economical situations in the 21st century resulted in four brutally murdered bodies. Bright and beautiful, Hiu Ling meets Li Sum in Shinchon, mainland China, gets married to him, then moves to Hong Kong. Different from the bright future she dreamed of at first, Hiu Ling’s life in Hong Kong is unbearably distressful. Her economically incompetent husband is suspicious of her as she works outside and the suspicions eventually lead to violence. Hiu Ling keeps asking Hong Kong’s social welfare systems and the police for help but for them she is just another pesky settler who came to Hong Kong for money. The brutal account that family violence remains the same despite different cultures or regions is meticulously displayed by the hand of a master director. (Jay SON)