Plot: When Zang Jianhe discovers her husband married a second wife in Thailand to get a son, her world crumbles. She moves to Hong Kong and starts her life anew. Jianhe is a skilled cook, and she begins a little dumplings business. People like her food, and she slowly builds an empire that will go global.
Watches
July 22, 2025
For a while now, Andrew Lau has been tackling these Chinese success stories, and it's a little painful to watch. They're the Chinese equivalent of Hollywood schmaltz, films that are thinly veiled advertisements for a country and an attempt at exporting soft power (though it could just as well be intended for local audiences only).
In some ways, it's an aptly made film. Lau has the chops to produce a proper feature, but it never feels true to life. Instead, you get an overly polished plot with a lot of forced positivity and cheesy drama. The performances are solid, and there are a few decent moments, but it doesn't come close to Lau's career highlights.