Po · Dei juk

This one is that kind of movies that linger in your mind, that make you think about life, that give you certain positive impacts.

The casting is great and the acting of the individuals is near perfect.

The movie is good for audience of any religious background, for audience who believe or not the last dance is meaningful for the death, for audience who has good/bad bonding with the family, for audience who is struggling for life, and even for audience who doesn't like going to cinemas.

Hong Kong movie industries have been relying too much on kungfu/gangster stories for the last 10 or even 20 years. This movie is a major break-through while in Asia Korean/Japanese movies have been dominating.

Good job!!

A Hong Kong movie for the people of Hong Kong, it's been a while since the last time I've seen something like this. And the result shows. A testament that movies should be based on quality and not for the wider market only then can you create something that truly transcends to everyone. The Last Dance delves into an ancient tradition of the Canton people, and looks at how something like this affects the society of today. And by looking at the deceased, can we truly appreciate the living. A wonderfully created, dynamic film that has more to do with emotions, families than the topic itself and the box office is its best testament. Perhaps more impressive is the immaculate cinematography, it's so picturesque yet soaked in tradition and culture.

I snuck into this film expecting absolutely nothing, since I was unaware of even its title. Asians dominated the crowd of 25 matinee, so I figured it was an Asian film. This was such a beautiful experience to have unfold before me. Standup comic Dayo Wong is Dominic. His wedding planning business went bust during Hong Kong Covid. But his girlfriend's retiring Uncle Ming has turned over his half stake in his funeral business to him. The other half is held by Master Man (Michael Hui), a well regarded Taoist priest. MM lives with his ambulance driver daughter Yuet (Michelle Wai) and son Ben, who is continuing the Taoist tradition. Ben in turn has a wife and son. Dom visits often. He implements a lot of wacky money making ideas. But it's also a very dramatic film. The priest performs the "breaking hell's gate" ritual, which liberates dead souls so they can move on, as he did with his own deceased wife. Women are forbidden from such jobs, and Yuet is still holding a grudge. All the characters are very well developed. There are beautiful establishing shots of Hong Kong. I was very moved by the film and there was detectable crying in the audience. I would definitely try to see it. It was first released in HK, England, then Ireland. Now the US in very limited release. Anselm Chan is a fine writer/director.

Giving this an 8/10 rating

Latest from writer director Anselm Chan, and it's a topper, a proper drama about a subject that really does not get screen time. This is a great film by him and a good acting choice by Dayo Wong, who is nothing short of brilliant in everything he is in, but this performance and this role, it's a big ask and pulls it off.

A film about death nd the effects on the living, it must be handled with great care and can be a minefield, add humour and it can be a disaster, this is a almost perfect film that does this right, and there is a lesson to be learnt out of it.

Michael Hui, Michelle Wai and Pak Hon Chu are just so good and play off each other and cause Dayo Wong's character chaos. And he has plenty of that, which causes him all sorts but he grows and grows, and the last act of the film, which is the title, just finishes what is a great film off. The film is playing to packed cinemas here in London, for a good reason, it's got Dayo Wong, on top form, and I will travel to see what he is in.

You can never compare this film with other title that shoot for a far bigger picture or genre.

But this film is a lead example of masterpiece, doing everything well within its lane, especially with such a non-mainstream topic about some Chinese funeral ceremony. It is absolutely amazing how the director and team able to tell a story/paint a beautiful picture around this topic.

It has great acting, although the pace at the first part of the film might be a little slow for some audience, but it was just interesting enough to keep my attention. With that, the film has great introduction to all the major characters in this story in order to move into act 2 and 3.

Beautiful film that send great message without shoving it down your throat. None of the actors' performance or the scripts were written over the top that it became unrealistic or forcing a emotional reaction. But rather a natural state of flow that takes the audience emotion for a ride.

The best film from HK so far.