In Broad Daylight

CinemaSerf7/10

Jan 27, 2024

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This is actually quite an harrowing film that follows the investigative journalism of a woman who poses as the grandfather of a man in the rather dilapidated "Rainbow Bridge" Care Home. "Kay" (Jennifer Yu) turns up one day to chat with her aged and senile relative only to witness scenes of neglect and violence that the nurses and manager put down to discipline and being understaffed. That second point is most definitely true, and after befriending the cook she volunteers to assist - only to discover that what she saw on day one is but the tip of the iceberg and that the place has an history epitomised by the terrified "Ming Chai" (Henick Chou) and the young and impressionable "Wong Siu-Ling" (Rachel Leung) who pays an heavy price for her love of ice-cream. As the story unfolds, we realise that nobody is quite whom they appear and we find ourselves involved in legal proceedings that show up a shocking lack of interest from the authorities, some money-grabbing and duplicitous investors, a staff who treat these patients with scant regard - and that's at best, and we are exposed to an environment of physical, mental and sexual cruelty that makes you squirm. The acting from Yu and from the increasingly impressive (if odious) Bowie Lam as the man in charge is potently effective, as is the rather sparing dialogue - so much of this is laid before us for our own evaluation and that works well too. The conclusion - well you couldn't really make that up and it does disgust, on so many fronts. It's well worth a watch, this film.