Over My Dead Body review – corpse comedy riffs on Hong Kong property prices | Film

The madness of the Hong Kong property market takes centre stage in this goofy Cantonese-language comedy, set almost entirely over the course of one chaotic night in a luxury high-rise apartment block. Directed by Ho Cheuk-tin, it imagines how a bunch of ordinary Hongkongers would handle the unexplained appearance of a very naked and very dead man in their building.

Proceedings kick off when Ming (Wong You-nam) is having dinner with his wife (Jennifer Yu) in the apartment owned by his penny-pinching mother-in-law (Teresa Mo). When they hear a sinister thump outside the flat, they go to investigate – and find the corpse. Calling the police, they agree, would be risky, as their apartment could become a notorious “murder home” and lose value. So they try to make the corpse someone else’s problem, by dumping it outside another flat. Soon, other residents are drawn into the buck-passing, including two retired teachers and a failed footballer. As they all try to get rid of the body, they find a common enemy in Jiro Lee Sheung-ching’s believably priggish security guard.

It’s a frustrating film, as it’s nearly good. There are plenty of jokes, but none are very funny; there are moments of poignancy, but few are allowed to linger for long enough to make an impression. The acting is fine, but the characters are recognisable types: a fearsome matriarch who turns out to have a gooey side, a super-cool fashionista who isn’t as mean as she looks. And while the cinematography gives the film a pleasing, TikTokky immediacy, it all feels quite inane.

The residents do eventually remember what life is really about (friendship, family etc) but what brings them together in the first place is a shared desire to prevent the largest asset they own from depreciating. In the end the whole thing is quite depressing.

The madness of the Hong Kong property market takes centre stage in this goofy Cantonese-language comedy, set almost entirely over the course of one chaotic night in a luxury high-rise apartment block. Directed by Ho Cheuk-tin, it imagines how a bunch of ordinary Hongkongers would handle the unexplained appearance of a very naked and very dead man in their building.

Proceedings kick off when Ming (Wong You-nam) is having dinner with his wife (Jennifer Yu) in the apartment owned by his penny-pinching mother-in-law (Teresa Mo). When they hear a sinister thump outside the flat, they go to investigate – and find the corpse. Calling the police, they agree, would be risky, as their apartment could become a notorious “murder home” and lose value. So they try to make the corpse someone else’s problem, by dumping it outside another flat. Soon, other residents are drawn into the buck-passing, including two retired teachers and a failed footballer. As they all try to get rid of the body, they find a common enemy in Jiro Lee Sheung-ching’s believably priggish security guard.

It’s a frustrating film, as it’s nearly good. There are plenty of jokes, but none are very funny; there are moments of poignancy, but few are allowed to linger for long enough to make an impression. The acting is fine, but the characters are recognisable types: a fearsome matriarch who turns out to have a gooey side, a super-cool fashionista who isn’t as mean as she looks. And while the cinematography gives the film a pleasing, TikTokky immediacy, it all feels quite inane.

The residents do eventually remember what life is really about (friendship, family etc) but what brings them together in the first place is a shared desire to prevent the largest asset they own from depreciating. In the end the whole thing is quite depressing.