Review | Part-time Girlfriend movie review: dating and sexual shenanigans in Hong Kong comedy with an utterly hypocritical romantic twist

A man who enjoys hiring part-time girlfriends falls for a student offering PTGF services – and ends up agonising over whether she is offering sex to other men

What could have been a dark, funny satire on a seedy subculture is instead curtailed by director Cheng Fung-laam’s desire to have his cake and eat it too

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Larine Tang and Chiu Sin-hang in a still from Part-time Girlfriend (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Cheng Fung-laam.

Published: 5:45am, 22 Sep 2021

2.5/5 stars

The traditionally recognised line between dating and prostitution is muddled in Part-time Girlfriend (translated Chinese title: #PTGF: Girlfriends for Hire), an intermittently amusing – though frequently awkward – blend of satirical comedy and sappy romance, written and directed by first-time filmmaker Cheng Fung-laam.

Up until a few years ago, #PTGF was a popular hashtag on social media platforms such as Instagram, used by Hong Kong women offering their dating services to men. This movie opens with a scandal – allegedly based on an actual incident – in which thousands of incriminating photos of these women are made public online.

The leaked photos belong to Ka-chun (Chiu Sin-hang, the director and co-star of recent boxing hit One Second Champion), who we see – as the film flashes back to the preceding events – is an emotionally stunted accounting executive still reeling from being hurt by an ex-girlfriend many years ago.

Ka-chun has an eye-opening encounter with Bobo (Ashina Kwok Yik-sum), a “PTGF” his buddy Leung (Kaki Sham) hires to impress his pals. Not long after he’s introduced into this world of paid-for companionship, Ka-chun becomes so adept at securing dates with the prettiest girls that he becomes an influential YouTuber, dishing out tips to his fellow johns.