Mongkok

Mongkok, Episode 2 of Expats is the second of a pairing with episode 1, The Peak.

Hopefully, viewers can binge these 2 together, in sequence, to gain the full grasp of past and present within this character driven plot. Many reviews have termed this a tragedy, or examination in grief. Albeit I completely disagree. This is life, with this chosen setting as Expats, not Hong Konger's, they're surrounded by bustling busy bright examples of lives, loves, the businesses that drive the Pearl of the Orient. The balance of lighting, cinematography matches both the beauty and density of Hong Kong. An island nation that's both full of beauty and intensity in more abundance than non Hong Konger's particularly are accustomed to. Authors and filmmakers remind us these characters are in unfamiliar territory in every sense compared to lives they're more accustomed to or were born into. The filmmaker and author have woven together the challenges of daily lives centered around three women who emerge from dramatic circumstances to find their ways forward with this episode offering brilliantly lit flashbacks, set against dramatic subtly lit present day events. These three women, Mercy, Margaret and Hilary blend perfectly into the multicultural landscape of Hong Kong, on the exterior. With each episode these womens inner character is revealed somewhat as a slow burn for Hollywood viewers. If not for the absence of any cantonese dialect, the leaning toward European dramas, it's not certain they'd be seen as Expats. This story set in 2014, when both English and Cantonese remained listed as the official languages of Hong Kong. Albeit, in day to day life of Hong Kong it's difficult not to pick up some working knowledge of Cantonese idioms and phrases, the series weakness and obvious targeting of only English speaking audiences. Mongkok represents in filmmakers visual sense the idealized Hong Kong. The remaining market streets that once flourished throughout Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Macau. This is an essential episode paired with The Peak to set the plot and move the dramatic tone for the series. This will likely be a career launching series for actress Ji-young Yoo.

Margaret, her son Gus, and the rest of their family are on a sunset cruise on a luxurious boat. Gus is a spoiled brat and I disliked him from the first scene. Misty, the Korean snotty, morose young woman is also at the party, making a fool of herself and telling uninterested guests how she's cursed.

Margaret takes a shine to her because Misty likes children. In the following scene, Gus is shown not liking his mom, pining for the nanny, and spitting the food Maggie prepared. Consequently, Maggie locks him out of the apartment. Much as I do not lament the loss of such a brat, I find the disciplinary stance of locking a child outside his house kind of weird.

Third expat Hilary is shown taking a pee and we can see the gold-tinted results because the toilet doesn't flush. What's the point of that scene? To show that Hong Kong orphanages are neglected? Isn't there any other way? Do we have to see cr*p floating in toilets to understand that HK is a dirty place? Anybody who visited knows what's like.

After the short meeting on the boat, Maggie decides to have dinner with Misty and her children and go to the night market. Question - would you trust with taking care of a toddler someone you met twice, and who seems unpleasant, gloomy, and distracted by non-stop messaging?

Finally whomever is in charge of Hilary's costumes must hate her because she's wearing only tight trousers or jumpsuits that make her hips and backside look positively enormous. Unless the purpose is to distract from other body parts...

Episode 2 tells a story but it's not a great story. Seeing a woman sitting on a toilet with her business unflushed and later engaging in a prolonged awkward sex scene where she forgoes an orgasm so her deadbeat husband can groan and squirm all over her is just...kinda gross. In episode 1 we saw his bare naked flaccid bum for no good reason at all.

If it were a story about couples doing ordinary poopy things then fine, but it's also expecting us to 'feel something' for the woman that loses her child in a busy marketplace. I'm not feeling that at all; the directorial choices are not leading up that objective; by the time it happens, it's just another event. I mean, when Tilda Swindon is randomly shoved in a scene (as herself, in episode 1) one is left thinking 'why?'.

I feel the director is trying to cover too many bases rather than making decisive choices about what serves the story, and doesn't. Sometimes you have to cull material that may be edgy (in another context / film) but isn't part of the composition you are trying to frame.

Granted, there are 3 narratives going on here but the main one feels overshadowed by the sex life of the minor characters. This is definitely not interesting nor engaging.