Missbehavior (2019)

A group of friends who called themselves "the bitches" fell out over various grievances and haven't spoken for a long time, but when one of them has a crisis they reluctantly reunite to help her. Their mission: acquire a bottle of breast milk before the end of the work day.

Pang Ho-Cheung made his name directing transgressive black comedies such as Men Suddenly in Black and AV (Adult Video), found surprise commercial success with the pleasingly unromantic rom-com LOVE IN A PUFF and made a powerful piece of art with the superlative Aberdeen. It's hard to believe the same mind was responsible for this garbage.

On the surface it looks like a return to his provocative comedies - friends bonding on a mission to accomplish something inadmirable, but the attempts to push buttons or boundaries are painfully contrived and the comedy out-dated. His earlier films had aspects of cringe-comedy, putting the characters in embarrassing situations - this film just made me cringe.

As it stands this is the last film Pang has directed - I heard he decided to stop making films in Hong Kong because of the new censorship laws. It would be a shame if it ends up being the last film he directs, as it's an ignominious capstone on an otherwise exceptional career.

It falls so far short of his other work that I can't help wondering if it's intentional, a statement of some sort about the state of the industry, but it's an oblique one if so. More likely it's just a misfire, something that didn't work out and is best just forgotten and ignored.