Review | Table for Six movie review: Dayo Wong, Stephy Tang lead charming ensemble cast in wordy family comedy originally meant for Lunar New Year

Wong plays one of three half-brothers sharing a Hong Kong apartment, the setting for Sunny Chan’s film, and the story plays out over a series of dinners

One brother has a steady girlfriend, another is sore from a recent break-up, and when his ex turns up on the arm of the third brother, comedic mayhem ensues

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Stephy Tang (left) and Louis Cheung in a still from Table for Six.

Published: 5:15pm, 3 Sep 2022

3.5/5 stars

Table for Six is probably the first Lunar New Year comedy in Hong Kong film history to be repackaged as a Mid-Autumn Festival release – and that unplanned change, a consequence of Covid-19 control measures that forced local cinemas to shut down for months in early 2022, somehow suits this movie just fine.

A dialogue-driven ensemble comedy that takes place over several dinners in one single location among a cast of six characters, this second feature by writer-director Sunny Chan Wing-sun (Men on the Dragon) has a play-like quality that sets it apart from most other Lunar New Year movies with their haphazard scripting.

After scoring big with his last two films, the Lunar New Year blockbusters Agent Mr Chan and The Grand Grandmaster, Dayo Wong Tze-wah turns in a far more soulful – and less pretentious – performance as Steve, the eldest of three half-brothers who have long been cohabiting in the factory building apartment that was once their late parents’ char siu pork kitchen.

As this unabashed melodrama opens, Steve, a professional photographer, meets Meow (Lin Min-chen), a popular internet model who happens to be his biggest fan, but is too traumatised by his last break-up from three years ago to reciprocate her interest.

Meanwhile, youngest brother Lung (Peter Chan Charm-man), a slacker who quit his last day job years ago, is too preoccupied with his burgeoning esports career to wed disgruntled girlfriend and cooking enthusiast Josephine (Ivana Wong Yuen-chi), who has inadvertently become the family’s resident chef.

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