ReviewEveryphone Everywhere movie review: laid-back Hong Kong comedy by Amos Why takes mobile phone dramas in playful directions

Indie filmmaker draws together three loosely connected storylines involving three old school friends who get together for a reunion dinner after 25 years

One leaves his mobile at home, another’s hacked phone could reveal his illegal business dealings, while the third has a revealing phone call with a fraudster

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Peter Chan as Raymond in a still from “Everyphone Everywhere” (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Amos Why. Endy Chow and Rosa Maria Velasco co-star.

Published: 4:45pm, 16 Aug 2023Updated: 5:34pm, 16 Aug 2023

3.5/5 stars

The impact digital communication technologies have on the everyday life of an average Hong Kong person in the pandemic era gave director Amos Why and his co-writers the concept for Everyphone Everywhere, a refreshingly laid-back comedy drama.

What could easily have been another boring cautionary tale about mobile phone use – think the preachy horror Social Distancing from earlier this year – has instead been turned on its head by the indie filmmaker also known as Wong Ho-yin, whose fourth feature this is.

While his past films – including Far Far Away and Napping Kid – tend to divide opinions, they can never be accused of being formulaic. The same applies to Everyphone Everywhere, directed by Wong from a screenplay he co-wrote with Frankie Chung Wang-kit and Kong Yu-sing.

This amusing and perceptive account of social norms and digital lifestyle in Hong Kong takes us through three loosely connected storylines that are set on the same day, before culminating in the nostalgic reunion of a trio of former high-school friends that was scheduled 25 years ago.

It begins innocuously enough when Chit (Endy Chow Kwok-yin, One Second Champion), a graphic designer living on the outlying Cheung Chau island, forgets to bring his mobile phone along on his long trip into town to make the dinner date.