This is a strong Hong Kong film that was the directorial debut of Norris Wong who also wrote the story. The title refers to a particular neighborhood in Hong Kong and the setting is one specific shopping mall there that specializes in weddings. The director apparently grew up right opposite the mall and is so often the case for good films, this immediate, personal connection lends it a powerful sense of authenticity, all the so as the director is herself a woman and can relate to the main character.

Fong works in a bridal gown rental shop in Golden Plaza while her fiancé Edward owns a photography business in the same complex. They have been living for years in a flat above the same mall and Edward’s mother wants to buy it for them so that they can finally get married. Fong however is already married to a mainlander Yang Shuwei to get him residential rights in Hong Kong in exchange for money. However they dropped out of touch years ago and the agent who was supposed to annul the marriage afterwards was caught by the police. She gets in touch with him again to get a quick divorce and he agrees if she helps him complete the final steps to emigrate to Hong Kong. Meanwhile her future mother-in-law insists on holding a wedding banquet despite her refusal and she is forced to ask her own family members, with whom she is estranged, to attend. As Fong and Yang Shuwei get their photos taken to fake evidence of their home-life, the latter notices how controlling Edward is, bombarding Fong’s phone with messages to check on what she is doing, and he even tries to control what she wears.

Despite a few stumbles such as going overboard on the characterization of Edward as an over-controlling man-child and Fong having little memory of Yang Shuwei and ignoring their marriage for 10 years, this is a film that is easily relatable and feels authentic to the lived experience of women. The theme here is once again freedom, specifically that of one woman who yearns to break free of the ties holding her back from living her life as she wishes. This includes winning the financial independence to run away from her toxic birth family, being able to live anywhere but the same neighborhood she has been stuck working and living in for so long and even longing for a living space bigger than Hong Kong’s shoebox flats. Worse, her impending marriage to Edward increasingly looks like another sort of prison between his controlling ways and her intrusive future mother-in-law. It’s very blunt messaging but it is effective. I especially liked how Edward’s romantic idea of a very public proposal traps her into agreeing. As my wife notes, the very idea of a secret public proposal is horrifying to women and there is nothing romantic in it at all.

The film also makes the interesting decision of using Yang Shuwei to contrast Edward’s behavior. It’s a little odd how he seems overly forgiving even though Fong arguably reneged on their original deal and there is perhaps a bit of China appeasement in here. But it’s not too bad here and he too yearns for freedom, in his case dreaming of moving to live in Los Angeles. I really like how this is about freedom on a very personal level: having enough money to live as one wishes, having a personal space to fit in a dinner table that Fong likes, not having to live according to the rules set by someone else and so on, wanting out of a childhood neighborhood and so on.

All in all, this is very strong directorial debut and it’s no wonder this was nominated at so many of the Hong Kong film awards. I’d judge that this isn’t yet a fully mature work, in particular characters ought to be less one dimensional and the messaging would be better if it were more subtle. It is very promising however and it’s enough to mark Wong as a director to watch.