Limbo (2021) User Reviews

A bold, hyperstylized noir HK thriller

[ObsessiveCinemaDisorder · 7/10 · 7 June 2022]

Limbo is a gritty stylized noir Hong Kong thriller from Soi Cheang, director of SPL 2 and Accident. Adapted from a Chinese crime novel by Lei Mi, the film features beautiful black-and-white cinematography, impressive production design, and solid performances from its three leads, especially from actress Yase Liu.

Will Ren, a rookie cop is assigned with Lau, a veteran cop, to investigate a series of brutal murders across east Kowloon.

Lau runs into Wong To, a down-and-out car thief on parole with whom he shares a dark past with, and recruits her to be an informant to search for the murderer.

Milkyway veteran Cheng Siu Keng's digital black and white cinematography is gorgeous and rich in contrast, creating a moody nihilistic atmosphere and transforms familiar Hong Kong locales into an unfamiliar Asian city where only bad things happen.

Kenneth Mak's production design is meticulous, sculpting the Hong Kong cityscape into a hyper-stylized setting that's something out of an adult graphic novel. For instance, the police station was fashioned out of a local Hong Kong market, creating an underground cavernous office, desks full of unsolved cases and cluttered with wornout cops.

There is so much garbage everywhere littered throughout the entire film. My first thought was, "That's some beautifully arranged garbage. Look at the contrast and texture!" Eventually, watching endless scenes of people rummaging through garbage makes it feel like the rubbish is on you. I took a shower before watching Limbo and wanted a second immediately after the end.

The grimness, while stylistically engaging, paints the film into a corner that does it a disservice. It is like Soi Cheang is squeezing out every last bit of the Grim brand toothpaste and there's no speck of hope in a literal garbage dump of a world. By the finale, all the grimness got tiring and I was yearning for another emotion to take over.

If there's no ray of hope for these characters, what's at stake then? The atmosphere is trying to choke them all to death.

What kept the film together was Yase Liu's performance, who steals the show as the film's unofficial protagonist. It is a well-written redemption arc that Liu plays with earnest and commitment, performing her own stunts in a lot of the film's chase scenes. Yase Liu becomes the ray of hope the film needs, despite all the surrounding nihilism trying hard to extinguish it.

Limbo is a heavy somber film and I could see it being hit-or-miss depending on whether your proverbial glass is half-empty or half-full. In the end, it was entertaining but I don't fully buy Soi Cheang thinks the world is utterly hopeless as he vehemently portrays.

For this reason, SPL 2 is still my favorite Soi Cheang film as it's where he kept both the grittiness and heart in better balance.

Sin City meets film noir?

[starman_vagabond · 7/10 · 2 November 2021]

Limbo is probably of one of the boldest attempt to put HK well-known crime drama along with the film noir genre. There were in the past many fine example of local production of gruesome and gritty crime stories and yet, Limbo pushes the envelope even further. The movie seems to actively asking audience not only looking at the stunning yet very harsh black and white visuals, but to sense the desperation of the characters, the smell of non-stop rain from trashy industrial buildings, as well as the out casts of our society but also the very places that they had to put up with. It is as if the movie theatre can release a fragrant of the movie, it would be, as what the main protagonist described, the smell of rubbish. Then perhaps, it could have also been the smell of real Hong Kong. Gone are the glorious and glamour of high rises and luxury apartments, replaced the harsh realty of daily grinning in an industrial, often chaotic mix of poor areas with out casts who had long been neglected.

The set design of film alone would have worth the trip to the theatre but oddly enough it was the characters' development which feel a bit of a let down. The English title does it justice to prescribe the state of mind of characters, whether it is Liu who mentally broke down because of his injured wife or Wang Tao, the young poor girl who is literally crying for her redemption, or the new smart looking Ren Kai who suffer from physical pain from his wisdom teeth (hence the Chinese title). We would want to know a bit more of their past to gain even more sympathy on their pain. The build up of the antagonist is probably one of the weaker point since all the suspense and industrial garbage land setting, leading up to the finale, could have been more meaningful if only the audience can know more about his origin and back story. Indeed, the "hand" motif could have been further explored and drill for deeper sub text through out the film. This is also why the antagonist felt a bit underdeveloped, especially through earlier scenes that he would have been a very suspenseful character. Then again, the slow developments of characters can be almost forgiven by one of the most gritty fight scenes in HK cinema in the finale and the sadness and suffering from each of the main casts can be finally released and cleansed through the heavy rain and blood.

The left hand

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 14 July 2023]

I dont really know what to say. Im not gonna lie: i found the beginning pretty boring; it take some times to develop. We follow a new guy who just arrived in the department and get introduced of some crimes that happened; we immediately try to investigate who is the killer. I found also that movie very violent even sometimes i didnt find the violence that necessary. And dont avoid some cliché: the dramatic past of a cop, the good/bad cop. Also we need to talk about the visual that i found really immersive and aestethic: it give a certain beauty despite the violence. The characters are not really deep and let us just know the past of the bad cop and his wife. The investigations are pretty simple: we go to a "point A"to a "point B"it is pretty linear. And i was really bored but what really give another taste to the movie its the simple introduction of the killer(we saw also a rape from him to one of the girl kidnapped). The chase, the run make it really intense and we wondering if they are gonna catch him. The only point that were missing was the psychological view of the killer. We dont really know why and why that obsession with the left hand. They finally catch him and kill him but the most dramatic and unexpected moment was the murder of the bad cop. Pretty dramatic indeed. So yeah i dont really hate the movie; it have a certain beauty, thrilling, hard moments that really cant let us indifferent even if i found the first part pretty slow and boring. A nice movie and visual experience. I really had the impression to see a big polar book in front of my eyes but instead of reading it was like happening in real time. Go check it. Cant let you indifferent!

Crime Drama

[crimsen_cinema · 7/10 · 23 March 2022]

Black and white picture completely increases the beauty and darkness of hong kong environment. Although action scene feel a bit messy, awesome acting.

Unmissable thriller

[paul-ayres-60784 · 10/10 · 11 June 2022]

A very dark and grim thriller filmed in black & white, mostly in the slums of Hong Kong. This movie is so atmospheric with a soundtrack that compliments it to perfection.

This really is one of the best thrillers I have ever seen. Emotions run high in this true masterpiece of a movie!

A decent slow burning crime thriller

[gangeshgnair · 6/10 · 26 September 2022]

People who love slow burning crime thriller would love it. The movie is very raw and violent. The cinematography was very beautiful. The performance by all the characters was very nice, I loved the female lead very much she was brilliant. She beautifully portrays the character as someone who is helpless and living her life facing the consequences of her past actions. Really loved the action sequences especially the one near the mid point, reminded me of the action sequence from old boy. The set design is beautiful especially the slum area.

The issue I had with the filim is the pacing. It takes its own time to tell the story.

A decent slow burning crime thriller

6/10.

Desperate Hong Kong

[g-89622 · 8/10 · 23 October 2021]

It is rare to use black and white images to present Hong Kong's urban space, and the lights of thousands of homes are also gloomy and desperate. The tyrannical police detective, the weak female, the broken left hand, the painful wisdom teeth, and the playable setting make the movie full of tension. Hong Kong, under Zheng Baorui's black-and-white lens, is a city we rarely see on the big screen: it is not so much a city as a huge garbage dump. Never seen that much trash in one movie, even documentaries on the subject of picking up trash are hard to compare. Black and white are black, there is no clean place, there is no clean person.

Filthy & Glorious

[synque · 7/10 · 27 April 2024]

From the locations, to the camera work this film is a joy to look at. In Fact i say a big draw to this film is how it presents itself with the choice to make it black & white (even though it was filmed in color). A choice that really makes the location feel more filthy/chaotic and hard to find the finer details. The actors did a good job at playing their specific archetypes, with the woman serving the better performance.

The weaker parts are in the action and time. Some of the action feels goofy, especially when a gun is involved and not used or certain actions should be taken by the cops but they leave it unattended. Other scenes feel unneeded and could have been cut short and arrive at the same point at a concise time. Lucky the bad action bits are at the end and don't hurt it too much.

Derivative storyline elevated by its stunning production design

[jorgebenavides-95736 · 8/10 · 4 June 2022]

Hackneyed narrative that is mercifully saved by some visually inspired production design. The richly constructed look and feel of this film cannot be overstated. From the opening frame, One's senses are immediately assaulted, if not drowned, by the reek and penetrating decay of some saturated underbelly where these token, yet serviceable, characters aptly inhabit. The performances are as effective as the thin and woefully predictable writing will allow, but with as many highly-successful film-making paragons(Wilson Yip, Kin-ye Au, etc.) attached, one might expect a bit more. Nevertheless, the technical team and its bravura display of visual mastery more than successfully manage to compensate for the film's more than obvious weaknesses.

Dark

[billcr12 · 8/10 · 20 June 2022]

This is a dark Chinese black and white film noir which is vicious. I would put it in a category with both Seven and Kalifornia. Two detectives, a rookie and a salty veteran investigate the murders of junkie prostitutes. The killer has cut off their hands and the police are stumped by the crimes. The cinematography is excellent and the two leads credible. A completely unpredictable ending make this a must watch film.

Begrimed...

[Xstal · 3/10 · 18 September 2022]

A saturated, soaked, drenched and perpetually drip, drip, dripping: dark, murky, dingy, foul, and festering, a sinister un-grip gripping - a filthy, grubby, dirty, soiled and polluted proposition, of a film, movie, feature, flick - a picture of derision.

A thoroughly over the top, flawed and messy attempt to demonstrate that style over substance can win you over, as the rain batters you into submission and the dismembered parts disperse with unsuccessful retail, the black and white monochrome features just elevate the weaknesses to an escalating fail, there's nothing to enjoy, no method in the madness, completely void of any and all detail.

Great film

[zakonline · 9/10 · 13 August 2022]

Excellent crime thriller drama. Yes, the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out, but overall the tone, directing, cinematography and acting were outstanding. Gordon Lam is seriously one of the most under-rated HK actors. After an alphabet soup of "Storm" movies starring the same-old same-old familiar actors in the lead, I had almost given up on HK cinema, but this gives me new hope.

Hollywood Beware; A New Standard is Set

[rak-27003 · 9/10 · 20 July 2022]

OUTSTANDING b&w crime thriller out of Hong Kong. Winner of 2 Asian Film Awards for Best Sound and Best Production Design; the Hong Kong Directors' Guild Award for Best Actress; 2 HKFCS Awards for Best Actress and Best Film; Catalonian Int'l Film Festival Award for Best Cinematography; and the MYmovies Purple Mulberry Award.

This film is near perfect in every recognizable cinematic category. Director Soi Cheang and writer Kin-Yee Au have given us a truly unforgettable realistic dark crime thriller drama that is going to set the standard for in crime thrillers for the next two decades. This was not a comic book adventure where a star wades through 25 armed baddies and puts them down in 40 seconds flat. This movie is realistic rough non-stop action that plays out in dark, drizzly, narrow, garbage-strewn, urban alleys, by desperate and traumatized men and women. In the long struggle scenes not a martial arts move is seen. The climatic fight scenes is 6 minutes long and involves 4 people fighting it out over a stretch of garbage. One of the best fight scenes that a director can bring to the screen. But, every action scene from start to finish, is a marvel in rough and tough, or touching and troubling, realism.

The settings, lighting, sound, filming and music, all come together to effectively support the moods that the story conveys.

Film co-star Yase Liu, was out of this world, as a street urchin. I watched the film twice in a 24-hour period. The second go was mainly to zero in on her performance. WOW! Action heroines in Hollywood and elsewhere need to tune in and learn from this young actress. Until further notice, she is the best. This is not to belittle the performance of co-star Ka-Tung Lam who played the role of a plainclothes police detective hunting down a psychopath with a fetish for the left hands of women. But, the character appears more obsessed with tracking down and humiliating the street urchin. Great performance Ka-Tung Lam.

Soi Cheang's long awaited comeback to serious filmmaking.

[Jqn_Hgar · 9/10 · 15 June 2022]

Story wise Limbo plays within a familiar territory when it comes to police investigation films about the hunt for a serial killer on the loose therefore the execution makes all the difference here and it ends up being a prime example of how a movie's visual aspect elevating it above its written material. After All Limbo shares a lot of similarities with Soi cheang's own Dog Eat Dog in terms of plot and in terms of how murky the morality of most of the characters at play is but as bleak and filthy as that film was it still has nothing on Limbo because as stated above the aesthetic that this film goes for is even grittier, grimier, nastier and bleaker yet still somehow mesmerising as it creates an atmosphere that is as creepy and ruthless as its subject matter.

Hong Kong is depicted in almost apocalyptic way, focusing mostly on the territory in which the killer operates, the rain soaked litter filled back alleys of the city, a wasteland that feeds on the outcasts of society, if you don't get chopped up by the killer the street will literally eat you alive. The city's mega structures are juxtaposed in the background in some scenes as a way to comment on how isolated the underworld feels it's almost as if the movie is saying you can scream all you want because nobody is coming there for help and nobody cares.

With a cast and crew consisting of a few Milky way image regulars (recurring story elements from previous works like the police detective losing his gun subplot are explored here again with a different approach), Limbo tells the story of a relentless manhunt for a deranged serial killer terrorising the female outcasts of the underworld. With Gordon Lam, in one of his few leading roles, shining as the tormented veteran police detective. His looks kind of reflect the harshness of his environment, the guy isn't afraid of getting knee deep in a trunk full of junk if it means he gets one step closer to stopping the culprit. On the other hand we have Yase Liu giving a very solid performance as the lead female of the film, I've never seen her in anything before but her turn will surely make me watch out for anything she does in the future. Mason Lee who I just found out is Ang Lee's son also does a decent job as the newly assigned and relatively naive detective, he might not be as good at his job as Gordon Lam's character but he definetly has the same resolve to fulfill his duty.

This is a step in the right direction for Soi Cheang a director who is clearly better than being a for hire in mainland chinese CGI crap fests, definetly the best film I've seen from him as of yet. If you liked his Dog Bite Dog you should find this right up your alley because I personally think it's a way better film that shows how much he grew as a filmmaker. Please for the love of god keep doing stuff like this. Also somebody please wake Johnnie To up from his sleep, we need more films like this! Keep Hong Kong cinema alive.

Intense crime noir ... Limbo in name ... limbo by nature!

[ok_english_bt · 8/10 · 7 August 2023]

Director Soi Cheang's dystopian crime noir didn't have the best start in life. Filmed in Hong Kong over 3 months from September 2017 it was canned when it didn't pass the Chinese censors, subdued by street protests in 2019 and mainland China's increasing belligerence towards the peninsula, and then to cap it all the Covid-19 pandemic! All this meant 'Limbo' didn't see the light of day until its premier at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival on 1st March 2021. Phew!

These setbacks don't seem to have blunted the film's impact and appeal. The claustrophobic thriller follows a police hunt for a fetishistic killer through the dark alleys and decaying apartments of Hong Kong's dark underbelly. Veteran bad cop Cham Lau played by Ka-Tung Lam constantly clashes with his 'by the book' rookie partner Will Yam (Mason Lee, actually Ang Lee's son would you believe?) as Cheang turns the cop buddy movie on its head. Lam carries a dark secret which flashes into view when the pair meet druggie gangstress Wong To (played by Yase Liu in what is probably the film's standout performance, although the intensity of Lam's character pushes her hard!) who offers them information to solve the crime. The film is tightly wound around the relationship between these three in their pursuit of the Japanese killer Yamada Akira (Hiroyuki Ikkeuchi) left cleverly faceless and a constant threat lurking somewhere off camera.

Cheang brought writers and creatives over from Milkyway Image, epic Hong Kong film maker Johnnie To's production company, to create a stunning movie that works on many levels. The film is perceptively shot in black and white which lengthens the night shadows (most of the action takes place at night!) and gives everything a creepy starlit quality. Set builders have constructed monstrous edifices of rubbish which gleam like jewels in the black midnight rain, and the protagonists often find themselves trawling through filth and trash so close up it crawls all over you like a rash, visceral! The elements of chase include martial arts and gruesome fight sequences which tie in with the killer's twisted lust for limbs and amputations in his victims, hence the title 'Limbo' ... but the film maker drags you back into reality with shots of metro carriages, passing traffic, a street vendor ... before soaring skywards with drone shots panning over the a Bladerunner rainstrewn city below ... what a visual feast!

The film's tortured history appears to make it 'Limbo' in name... and limbo by nature! Perhaps Cheang can take comfort in knowing many of the cinema greats were slow starters: Bladerunner, Donnie Darko, Labyrinth, Shawshank Redemption, Rocky Horror ... Post-pandemic, the world finally seems ready to wake from its slumber, and 'Limbo' and a great many of the other 'missing' films of Hong Kong may blossom yet!

A better informed review than mine: Review: 'Hong Kong Neo-noir "Limbo" Is Dark in More Ways Than One' by Justin Chor Yu Liu, 14th July 2022, Cinema Escapist.

But, hey, it looks great!

[richard-mcgeough · 5/10 · 23 July 2022]

Two dim-witted, bad-tempered, violent cops - one of them with a toothache - run around the rubbish-strewn back alleys of Kwun Tong looking for a violent killer with some serious mental health issues. Some triads run up some stairs. Then they run down again. Among all this silliness, two street-tough young women are put through some deeply harrowing experiences. Yase Liu as Wong To gives by some distance the best performance in a story that provides very limited context or background to the characters. It all just about makes sense despite each character acting inexplicably to help move the plot along. But, hey, it all looks absolutely stunning. No HK film I've seen has looked this magnificent since Wong Kar Wai's heyday. 10/10 for the production design, 4/10 for everything else. Let's call it a 5.

some feelings

[j_movie · 9/10 · 25 August 2021]

Fully in line with expectations. Like bomb disposal expert 2, when you think it's just a job, young directors in Hong Kong who have experienced on the set will prove their strength with their works. In particular, Zheng Baorui has been tied too deeply by the label of "bad film" in recent years, making people forget how dark and fierce his image was in those years. Wisdom teeth is not so much Hui Yong's work as the talent that has been hidden in his blood. It seems that the three parts, including journey to the west, need to be re examined. Under the black-and-white color, the regionality of Hong Kong is blurred. It seems that Hong Kong has become a city of sin. It is almost breathless with endless violence, massacre and humiliation. However, the more such a place is, the more it can produce some light of human nature. The moving part of wisdom teeth is precisely here. Liu Zhongxuan, who is cold outside and hot inside, Wang Tao, who is ill fated, and Ren Kai, who has finally grown up by "pulling out his wisdom teeth", all three main characters are waiting for the moment of self redemption. Unfortunately, Ren Kai's line is really weak, otherwise he can get real five stars.

Vivid, dangerous, well done

[sstt1-1 · 9/10 · 18 January 2022]

Cheung Pou-Soi does an excellent directing job here, turning the vision of writers Au Kin-Yee and Shum Kwan-Sin into a black and white film noir where characters' motives are no cleaner than the rubbish dumps in which it's set. Another brilliant turn by Lam Ka-Tung as the jaded detective, and Mason Lee (son of legendary director Ang Lee) plays a good rookie-in-charge-with-issues. Even when you think the females are there to be the weak ones, their tenacity may well surprise you. I really enjoyed rooting for certain characters all the way through but especially at the end. Warning - this should be an 18 cert in the UK for rape and injury detail.

Grim crime noir.

[ocosis · 8/10 · 2 May 2023]

Finally got to watch this. Relentlessly grim and violent Hong Kong crime noir, shot in black and white, as 2 cops track down an insane serial killer. I watched it in Chinese, which I don't speak, and enjoyed it totally. The film and cinematography look great, and the main actress does an amazing job of putting herself through Hell, as do the three male leads. The fight scenes are brutal and intense. And grimy. It get's as close to a horror film as a crime noir can get. And the constant barrage of bad weather and polluted back streets of the city create an almost dystopian Hell, especially in the final act.

Recommended.

Neo Noir! Black and white! Se7en!

[xnicofingerx · 8/10 · 24 June 2023]

Neo Noir! Black and white! Se7en!

Announcement on point 2: don't worry, it doesn't bother you at all, on the contrary. The contrast is insane, the pictures fit the mood perfectly, every second shot is a painting. This huge city, these many people, these masses of rubbish and human fate, both practically equated. Who needs colour, this feeling comes over you during the whole visual enjoyment of urban gloom. This is the main feature of the perhaps too long two hours, the story itself less worth mentioning. No clever killer, contrary to point 3, rather a sicko, but the special relationship of one of the two commissioners to main character #4 is an interesting change.

illogical and lack of common sense

[purplealoee · 1/10 · 15 November 2022]

I'm suing the production and the director if I'm HK police department. The IQ of the two policeman are offline the whole duration, together with non compliant behaviors. No resources allocated to such a vicious case? Only them two? The illogical list goes on and on. To avoid spoiler, I feel like the screenwriter and director have 0 common sense on police department and did 0 due diligence on this part. The whole plot thing ruins the A+ actings and whatever "artistic" value the movie tries to convey. It just makes 0 sense. The whole black and white thing looks like a gimmick in the end. The movie somewhat looks like a student only knows the formula to a math problem but doesn't understand it fully and how to use its variation when it comes to different scenarios.

Brilliant in form and content. One of the best serial killer/neonoir thrillers of all time

[alcerto · 8/10 · 18 April 2024]

Limbo's main characters move frantically among the debris of a metallic, dystopian Hong Kong that looks simultaneously dystopian, noir and even cyberpunkish. Cinematography is stunning in both its crispness and brilliant angles/framing.

The good cop/bad cop dynamic is made more complex by personal issues both trivial (the highly symbolic wisdom tooth ache) and massive (personal tragedy).

The contrast between the tormented veteran cop and brutal way he deals with the petty thief girl who was the culprit for his ordeal has a startling ruthlessness that becomes more and more layered.

The cast is very good. The actress' (Cya Liu) performance particularly is one of the best I've seen in the last few years. It's at once fragile, physical, vulnerable, relatable and overall awesome. Even the way she closes her eyes in one particular scene is full of meaning and beauty.

The plot itself relies on sheer tenacity even when characters make mistakes until it reaches a dark catharsis. Limbo is a genre masterpiece.

Black and white

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 23 March 2023]

No pun intended - and of course you can tell that I am not just refering to the movie and its style itself. But of course also the fact that we see things in black and white - because it is easier to put things in boxes. That is a default - best case scenario is that we fight against that and let logic and other factors help us judge and think about things.

In this case we do have a serial killer - and we have people looking for or rather after him. Not everything is going to go smoothly ... and the movie has quite a few shockers along the way .. even up until the end. It does not shy away to shock you - visually and otherwise. Acting wise the movie is top notch. The main character is amazing. I have seen him in a lot of stuff, but I can't remember his name. The others are good too of course. But he is the anchor of it all ... watch it if you can stomache it.

A movie's main plot is beat up a woman

[oilingyu · 5/10 · 25 April 2024]

The whole plot is ambiguous and out of focus. The lines between characters were cringy and stupid. It's supposed to be a crime thriller, but the directors made it about how to torture a woman until she can be forgiven. Noted that she already served her crime by admitting to jail. For some reasons, she was willingly destroyed and endangered herself so the cop will say forgive her. The characters kept contradicting themselves in their beliefs. There were also lack of logics such as trying to stop 7-8 men to beat up a woman by trying to yell at them, which lost the gun in the end. When confronted with a serial killer, one decided to go without a gun; when the killer was captured and passed out, the idiot cop put a gun in front of his chest resulting him opened fire. Make it make sense. Otherwise, the filming was good and cinematic. I give a 5 for that. 0 for the story and acting.