Keswick Film Club - The Last Dance

Synopsis

Hong Kong wedding planner Dominic loses his business due to Covid and switches to running a funeral business. It is actually going quite well except that his business partner is an old-school Taoist priest Master Man, who has no time for his new commercially oriented youngster. Dominic realises however that they could be complementary - "Taoist priests transcend the soul of the dead. Agents transcend the soul of the living." – as he explains to Master Man, "Living can be hell for some people". The plot thickens still further on the entry of Man's daughter…

"This likable Cantonese-language comedy drama starts out as an odd couple story but evolves into something more complex and satisfying: a film about tradition, gender roles and family tensions, with Master Man's straight-talking paramedic daughter Yuet (Michelle Wai, impressive) increasingly taking a central role in the story" – Wendy Ide, Observer – whilst Mark Kermode simply says "oddly profound" and Phil Hoad, Guardian says "And just as his protagonist freshens up the departed, [Director] Chan is skilled in breathing naturalness into melodrama; not just through macabre contrast, but also by earning the twists and contrivances through patiently handling Dominic's transition to compassionate undertaker in a string of attentively written consultations. As deftly portrayed by Wong [Dominic], his obsequious grin hides an inner strength – and Hui [Man] matches him with effortless irascibility".