All of a Sudden

A 90s thriller. It may be coming out of Hong Kong, but it reminded me a lot of the American thrillers of that era. It's a genre that hasn't aged too well, and Yau doesn't really do anything notable with it. The result is a plain and forgettable film that simply goes through the motions, but fails to engage at any point.

Tsui's wife is found dead. The police assumes a suicide, but Tsui suspects a rich businessman who supposedly had an affair with his wife. Tsui wants revenge and kidnaps the mistress of the businessman. Things get more complicated when Tsui starts an affair with her, and they come up with a scheme to run off with the money together.

It's a simple enough setup, with some obvious twists in the second part. Half-hearted attempts to keep the plot interesting, nothing more. The performances aren't great, Yau's direction is disappointing, and the film lacks the usual Hong Kong genre slickness. You're probably better off watching the American counterparts, at least they had bigger budgets.