Love in a Puff
Sweet, hilarious, and quintessentially Hong Kong, Pang Ho-cheung’s romantic comedy serves as a timely reminder as to what our cinema can do, should persist in doing, and may never accomplish again with most local filmmakers firmly casting their gazes on the enormous Mainland market. From the hazy karaoke lounge parties to the random love motel rendezvous and constant cigarette breaks in backstreet alleys, the film perfectly realised the sights and sounds of contemporary Hong Kong life – with all its vitality and capriciousness. Playing a cosmetic salesgirl and an advertising executive on the verge of a relationship, Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yu both turn in career best performances under Pang’s naturalistic direction. Essential viewing for anyone who calls this city home.

Runner-up: Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Iconic director Tsui Hark returns with his best film in over a decade, channelling the wildly entertaining spirit of his early martial arts classics such as Swordsman II and Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. Andy Lau plays the titular hero with a quiet air of buoyancy, while his co-stars – Li Bingbing, Deng Chao, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Carina Lau – all spice up the 689AD-set historical fantasy with captivating performances in their brief yet grippingly complex roles. With mesmerising visual design to boot, Detective Dee provides a hugely satisfying glimpse of Tsui’s boundless creative vision.
 

Honourable Mentions

Echoes of the Rainbow
Its sentiment may be as old as the sun, but Alex Law’s 1960-set weepie is still heading our cinema’s recent nostalgic wave – which also includes such titles as Gallants, Frozen, and Bruce Lee, My Brother.

Ex
Young director Heiward Mak proves her credentials with this idiosyncratic sophomore effort: a decidedly fragmented portrait on failed romance and broken relationships, with Gillian Chung starring compellingly as a selfish and promiscuous young woman.

Once a Gangster
Badass gangsters are so 1990s; which is why we can’t get enough of Felix Chong’s darkly comical parody on Hong Kong’s once-glorious triad movie tradition. Who thought Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan would kill not to get elected as the new gangster boss?