The Sparring Partner

Ho Cheuk-Tin's 2022 debut feature adapts the Tai Kok Tsui case that shook Hong Kong in 2013: a young man is accused, together with a friend, of murdering and dismembering his parents. The film's real innovation is its point of view; the story proceeds largely through the jurors and shows what ordinary people actually rely on when deciding another person's life. The defence lawyers turning on each other, and the defendants dividing the roles of devil and idiot between them, turn the courtroom into a stage. The director shows the jury's prejudices, its lapses of attention and its need for moral certainty without mercy. The film became an unexpected commercial success in Hong Kong and ranked among the year's most watched local productions. Who it's for: viewers interested in courtroom drama, films adapted from real cases, and the new generation of Hong Kong directors. Who it's not for: anyone uncomfortable with explicit detail about murder and dismemberment, or looking for a definite truth.