Finch & Midland movie review: Anthony Wong and Patrick Tam can’t save grim diaspora drama

2.5/5 stars\nThe Hong Kong diaspora in Canada is subjected to an exercise in classic miserabilism in Finch & Midland, a delicately acted but loosely scripted portrait of ageing and loneliness that revolves around the uniformly depressing lives of four immigrants who arrived in the 1990s.\nAlthough the title references a Toronto intersection synonymous with the city’s Hong Kong community, this character drama – the first feature of Canada-born writer-director Timothy Yeung – shows scant interest in that cultural legacy. Instead, it is content to wallow in the misery of its tritely sketched middle-aged protagonists.\nFirst, we meet Dan (Patrick Tam Yiu-man), a divorcee who cannot quite let go of his glory days as a rising pop singer in late-1980s Hong Kong. Beyond struggling to maintain a part-time restaurant gig, the faded entertainer faces losing his estranged daughter (Samantha Ji) as his ex-wife remarries.\n\n\nEqually anguished in her attempt to connect is Eva (Harriet Yeung Sze-man), who is unmarried, approaching 50 and trapped in a suffocating carer role for her ungrateful mother (Nina Paw Hee-ching), who favours Eva’s absentee brother. This bleak thread also sees Eva desperately yearning for male attention, only to be humiliated at every turn.\nThe narrative gloom deepens with Fan (Theresa Lee Yee-hung), who experiences the brutal flip side of that coin. A single mother toiling in a supermarket by day and a massage parlour by night while chasing the dream of a real estate licence, she discovers there is no escape from pervasive male predation.\nFinally, there is Tony (Anthony Wong Chau-sang), a factory supervisor who believes his adherence to the model minority myth will protect him, but is fired nonetheless. In the film’s only glimmer of hope, albeit a contrived one, the widower bonds with a pot-smoking teenager (Jaden Kwan), who has been squatting in his house.\nGiven the indignity heaped upon its quartet of main characters, and considering the authentic performances delivered by the cast, Finch & Midland disappoints not just with its monotonous tone but also with an amateurish approach to screenwriting that at times borders on lazy stereotyping.\n\n\nIn particular, there is an inherent sexism in the film’s characterisation that leaves a bitter aftertaste: whereas the two male protagonists are largely living the consequences of their career choices and life decisions, the women are portrayed as inevitable victims of their own gender.\nIt is a testament to the cast’s skill that they manage to wring moments of genuine emotion from such heavy-handed material, which mistakes grimness for profundity. By denying his characters even a modicum of agency or unexpected joy, Yeung ensures that his debut film serves as neither social commentary nor compelling drama.\nWant more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook\n