2.5/5 stars Until he made a couple of surprisingly mellow movies last year, Patrick Kong Pak-leung had been known for directing embarrassingly contrived romantic comedies that focused on the nastiest aspects of relationships. At long last, Kong may have found a worthy successor. With this, his directorial debut, Anselm Chan Mou-yin – a regular screenwriter for Vincent Kok Tak-chiu’s lowbrow comedies such as House of Wolves and Keep Calm and Be a Superstar – looks ready to take the baton from Kong. With its extremely cynical views on courtship and marriage, Ready or Knot normalises the very worst clichés about men and women – and feels smug about doing so. The dialogue-heavy melodrama begins with the wedding of the proudly promiscuous Grey Bear (Chu Pak-hong) and his strong, but painfully oblivious bride, Jenny (Hedwig Tam Sin-yin), at which the groom’s two best buddies, Guy (Carlos Chan Ka-lok) and Kin (Shum Ka-ki), meet their respective love interests, Ho-yee (Michelle Wai Sze-nga) and Jessica (Renci Yeung Sze-wing). The story jumps forward five years to dwell on the relationship cul-de-sac that Ho-yee and Guy now find themselves in: she wants to wed, he wants nothing of it, and each is supported by their toxic pals, who scheme behind their backs. Hesitation about marriage has been a popular subject for Hong Kong filmmakers of late – for example in 29+1 and My Prince Edward – and their films were all significantly better than Ready or Knot . Happy though I am to see this group of emerging actors engage in one snarky exchange after another, I am disturbed by the story’s questionable morality: this is all about proudly unfaithful men who despise marriage yet lust after every woman except their own spouses, and about women so desperate and insecure they think it makes sense to get pregnant in order to force through a marriage. There are, admittedly, moments of inspired hilarity in Ready or Knot , such as when the three male protagonists resort to code-reading to hide their infidelity from their partners. But a filmmaker, even one making a farcical comedy, who finds it funny for his lead couple to spike each other’s drinks with unauthorised drugs just to get their desired outcome on the subject of marriage has to take a long, hard look at himself. Instead of making the even more outrageous sequel that this movie’s end credits hint at (I genuinely hope not), Chan should consider devoting his talent to making a high-quality comedy that avoids any romance, so that his audience can enjoy a film without feeling all creepy and dirty. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook