Run and Kill

Billy Tang's 1993 Hong Kong film follows an ordinary family man trying to undo a deal he made during a drunken night. Learning that his wife is cheating on him, he pays a stranger to kill her; when he sobers up the next morning he cannot call it off. The film carries a Category III classification, which in Hong Kong cinema marks productions that observe no limits on violence or sexuality. The narrative escalates fast, leaving the usual crime template for something closer to nightmare. The character played by Simon Yam is among the most disturbing screen villains of the period. The violence is shown in graphic detail. The film's defenders read this as an expression of social anxiety in nineties Hong Kong; its critics say the spectacle became the point. Both readings hold. Who it's for: viewers who know and seek out Hong Kong Category III cinema. Who it's not for: viewers who need to avoid extreme violence, torture and harm to children; the film shows all of it directly.