Sons of the Neon Night

Although the release date still hasn’t been confirmed, Sons of the Neon Night is a highly anticipated film, especially for fans of singer, scriptwriter, actor and director Juno Mak’s first film Rigor Mortis in 2013.

In addition to the solid cast – including Louis Koo, Sean Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Gao Yuanyuan – viewers are also looking forward to the life-size replica of Causeway Bay used in the shooting of the film.

To shoot the large-scale explosion scene in the film, the production team built a replica of the iconic junction of Causeway Bay outside Sogo and the areas nearby at an iron and steel mill in Huizhou, Guangdong province.

The stunning scene marks the opening of the film, where a sudden explosion kills a wealthy Hong Kong businessman. This kicks off a battle between a group of drug traffickers and others who are against drugs. The heir of the drug trafficking syndicate does not hesitate to create chaos, for he believes that a world without drugs would be even worse and more chaotic.

Another of the film’s hot talking points is the snow scene shot outside Windsor House in Causeway Bay. During shooting, Great George Street was blockaded at night and artificial snow was sprayed all over the street despite it being summer and 30 degrees Celsius at the time.

Love After Love

The teaser for Love After Love was first released at the 77th Venice International Film Festival where celebrated director Ann Hui, leader of the Hong Kong New Wave in the 1980s, was awarded the 2020 Honorary Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

The film is based on the novel Agarwood Incense: The First Brazier by one of the most important modern Chinese writers, Eileen Chang. It is also Hui’s third movie adapted from a novel, following Love in a Fallen City in 1984 and Eighteen Spring in 1997.

Set in colonial-era Hong Kong in the 1940s, the film tells the story of Ge Weilong (Sandra Ma), a young girl who travels from Shanghai to Hong Kong in pursuit of an education. Corrupted by her dazzling new environment, Ge is encouraged by her relative, Aunt Liang (Faye Yu) to marry a young man, Qiao Qiqiao (Eddie Peng), so as to gain access to his wealth.

Love After Love is scripted by Wang Anyi while Oscar-winning Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto composed the score.

Warriors of Future

First announced in 2015, Warriors of Future took three years of preparation, four months of filming and 18 months of post-production. And that’s on top of a US$45 million production budget. With that sort of investment, to say that this movie is on sci-fi buffs’ radars would be an understatement.

The film, directed by Ng Yuen-fai, takes place in Hong Kong in the year 2055 when an alien vine known as Pandora has invaded a polluted Earth, destroying everything in its path. The military in Hong Kong is tasked with saving everyone before the plant wipes Hong Kong off the map.

Warriors of Future features a star-studded cast, including Louis Koo, Sean Lau, Carina Lau, Nick Cheung, Philip Keung and Tse Kwan-ho.

The behind-the-scenes production team comprises of CGI specialists from Hong Kong and overseas, setting a new standard for Asian sci-fi films.

First Night Nerves

First Night Nerves marks the long-awaited return of acclaimed Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan, whose last film was Everlasting Regret in 2005.

From his breakthrough 1985 drama Women, through later works such as Rouge (1987) and Center Stage (1992), Kwan is famous for his sympathetic treatment of women’s struggles, especially when it comes to romantic attachments.

This time, Kwan teams up with Canto-pop A-listers Sammi Cheng and Gigi Leung to explore the disparate cultures of show business and sisterhood.

The film focuses on Two Sisters, a new play written and directed by a trans woman, Ouyang An (Kam Kwok-leung), which is about to have its opening night at Hong Kong’s venerable City Hall. But during the last seven days of rehearsals, hidden tensions rise to the surface, sparked by the long-standing rivalry between the two lead actresses Yuan Xiuling (Sammi Cheng), a stage veteran making her comeback a year after the death of her unfaithful husband, and He Yuwen (Gigi Leung), a smart movie actress making her stage debut.

The film is also a reunion for Cheng and Leung, who co-starred in the comic book movie adaptation Feel 100% in 1996.

Raging Fire

If you are a fan of action thrillers such as Gen-X Cops (1999), New Police Story (2004), Shaolin (2011) or The White Storm (2013) – all by veteran action director Benny Chan, who passed away in August 2020 from nasopharyngeal cancer – Raging Fire will probably be your pick this year.

In the film, Donnie Yen plays Shan, a police officer with an impressive record of solving cases. His latest sting operation is attacked by an unknown group of criminals lead by the mastermind Ngo (Nicholas Tse), formerly a talented cop himself and Shan’s protégé. A terrible accident resulted in Ngo going to prison for three years, turning him against his former mentor. Now he is out for revenge and intends to try and kill Shan.

Theory of Ambitions

While we all wait to see Tony Leung Chiu-wai in Marvel’s superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, perhaps crime thriller Theory of Ambitions may help tide us over.

Set in 1960s Hong Kong, the film centres around a true story about four corrupt police officers, notoriously known as the “Big Four Inspectors”.

Leung and Aaron Kwok play Nam Kong and Lui Lok respectively, while Michael Chow stars as Hon Sam and Patrick Tam as Ngan Hung.

The film follows the rivalry between Leung and Kwok, two ambitious policemen who rose to the top of the police force during British rule.

It also retells the famous story of Lui Lok, who wiped out one of the biggest triads in Hong Kong, the 14K, in 1955, earning him a big reputation in the police force of the time.

Theory of Ambitions is the fourth film from director Philip Yung, who is best known for Port of Call that garnered seven awards at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016.

Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter .