Waan'oi

I am still positively shocked by how good this film is. From the acting up the production to the story, everything is very well done. The story is deeply engrossing, and I feel for the chargers every step of the way. I honestly think this film is a must see for everyone, especially if you know someone who is affected by psychosis.

This is a really good movie, starting from the plot as it tackles serious issues, to the direction and great cinematography and ending with beautiful performance of the lead actors especially the ML!

This film navigates the mental and psychological voids, discussing a certain possibility of love within the diagonal tension between patients and others. On the surface, it's about the patient's fantasy of love and the doctor's entanglement in unspeakable taboos with the patient. However, this fantasized love becomes the start of self-healing for the doctor as the 'other'. When the film speaks through the female lead's recounting of the past, it also expands the perspective from the patient's societal exploration to a broader public context, sparking a conversation about love. What is love? Is it a fantasy? Do we need love, or are we just indulging in the fantasy of it? Like a warm consultation room on a sunny afternoon, it's a refuge where no one can abandon themselves, and love cannot be demystified. The audiovisual design is very intentional, and the director's skill is fully realized in depicting the onset of illness, complemented by the actors' performances, immersing the audience in certain scenes. However, the overall story structure is loose, with transitions and changes not serving the narrative well, becoming more of a storytelling demand. The film's last half-hour inevitably leads to the male and female leads being separated by external forces, with the male lead falling into role flaws and the female lead into professional and social moral judgment, making me feel a lack of overall coherence.

Comparing to the Mad Mad World, another movie talking about mental patient, it is, to be frank, quite a boring film. The whole story has just one story line, the love line between a man with psychosis and a girl who is a clinic psychologist student.

The male lead acts well as a man with psychosis. He has illusion and always hear sounds. Our society do need more of this type of movie. But the drama could be more audience friendly if there are multi story lines and richer content.

I stumbled upon the 2019 Hong Kong romantic drama titled "Beyond the Dream" from writers Kiwi Chow (whom also directed the movie) and Chun Wing Tsang. Now, I had never heard about this movie prior to watching it, but it being a Hong Kong movie was more than enough to make me sit down and watch it.

And I managed to endure a painstakingly boring 51 minutes of the two hours the movie ran for, because I succumbed and gave up on this boring heap of a movie. The pacing of the narrative was insanely slow, and nothing worthwhile happened as the movie trotted on and on. And I have to say that the character gallery was so flaccid and bland that it just took away from the movie.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Beyond the Dream", but it was just a struggle to watch them bringing boredom to life on the screen.

"Beyond the Dream" from director Kiwi Chow came and went without leaving a lasting impression on me. And come next week, I am sure that all memory of this swing and a miss of a movie will have faded into oblivion.

I was by no means entertained by this movie. And as such, my rating of "Beyond the Dream" lands on a two out of ten stars.