Mad World

Tung has been hospitalised with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and is discharged. The only person who will take him is the father who has been absent for years. The two begin living together in one of Hong Kong's smallest housing forms, a subdivided room. As the square metres shrink, everything unspoken in the past becomes visible. This is Wong Chun's first film. The budget was around two hundred and fifty-eight thousand dollars and the shoot took two weeks. Those limits do not weaken it; they turn the cramped space into the story itself. Wong won Best New Director at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards and the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards. The screenplay is by Florence Chan. Shawn Yue plays Tung and Eric Tsang the father. The film treats mental illness not as an individual matter but alongside the housing crisis and the pressure of neighbours. Who it's for: Viewers who like Hong Kong independent cinema and drama that places mental health in a social context. Who it's not for: There is very little relief anywhere in it and the enclosed space is suffocating. No resolution is offered.