Amos Why’s latest is another sprint around Hong Kong, this time with a mobile phone theme…
Director Amos Why follows Far, Far Away with another whimsical look at contemporary Hong Kong in Everyphone, Everywhere, presumably titled to connect with Everything Everywhere All at Once. The films don’t have much in common beyond the fact that Why here does employ a fairly ambitious narrative structure, jumping between a series of different couples and characters, charting their various inter-relationships, trials and tribulations, and how these are all connected to their smartphones and their overreliance on modern technology in their lives.
The film essentially consists of three stories, which interweave and overlap with each other, and which are kicked off by Chit (Endy Chow), a graphic designer living on one of Hong Kong’s islands, who accidentally leaves his phone behind when he heads to the city on business, meaning that he then has to try and access various phones to contact his other half to supply him with the details for his many meetings. At the same time, his estate agent friend Raymond (Peter Chan) has his phone hacked, leading to the fear of a scandal due to some dodgy messages, and a female executive connected to the both of them called Ana (Rosa Maria Velasco) starts getting messages from who may or may not be a scam artist, telling her that her husband is having an affair. Shenanigans ensue.
The three stories, along with various other subplots and random narrative threads, all come together(ish) during Everyphone, Everywhere, a gambit which Amos Why used in his previous films, and again this to a large extent serves as an excuse for taking the story to a variety of different iconic local Hong Kong locations, from the islands through to Mongkok and beyond. This is really the key draw of the film, as Why clearly has a genuine feel for the various places that it visits, and this feeling of authenticity is furthered by lots of anecdotal references to life in Hong Kong and the societal issues that he explores – or at least pays lip service to.
This is the main area where Everyphone, Everywhere stumbles, as while the mobile phone gimmick is well-executed, and while Why’s anecdotal approach allows for various observations on modern Hong Kong society, there’s really not much more to the film than that. The actors are all fine, and the film is nicely-shot, if a bit tedious in its overuse of showing texting and emojis onscreen, though the issue is that it never really has much to say beyond pressing some pretty obvious buttons. The film does benefit from avoiding the sense of male wish fulfilment which drove Far, Far Away, and Rosa Maria Velasco delivers the standout performance – the scenes towards the end with her character, Chit and Raymond at an awkward dinner are the best in the film, coming with a nicely laid-back sense of self-reflection.
More than anything, Everyphone, Everywhere is reminiscent of the works of Patrick Kong, whose films showed a similar approach to essaying contemporary Hong Kong society, without anything too dramatic or ground-breaking. Like Far, Far Away, Amos Why’s latest work is a pleasant watch, boosted by a likeable cast and a degree of narrative ambition, though it still ultimately stands as middle of the road fare.