Mad Fate

The sky above Hong Kong is not just heavy with clouds and rain, it also contains astral signs and dark omens in this esoteric neo-noir. In a radical and counter-intuitive move, rather than having the characters’ trajectories converge towards the end, the plot instead knits their fates together from the start. Crossing paths at the scene of a heinous crime in a brothel are the serial killer perpetrator and the upstanding detective chasing him, but also a delivery boy obsessed with blood and knives and an occultist feng shui master who had predicted the victim’s gory fate without being able to prevent it. The last two quickly form an unlikely pair, and this transforms the film into a surreal, hyperkinetic, expressionist buddy thriller. The horoscopes confirm that the boy will soon succumb to his bloodthirsty temptations, but to redeem past failures and save him from his fate, the fortune teller is willing to do anything. As the investigations gather pace, the pair sinks into delirium in a whirlwind of superstitions, rituals and distortions, against a backdrop of an alchemical metropolis. (Berlinale)