Watches
July 01, 2007
October 20, 2021
Solid Chinese genre fare. The Matrimony was an old favorite of mine. When I first watched it, it felt like a welcome change of pace for Asian horror, with a stronger focus on romance/drama, less so on horror. It certainly wasn't a disappointing rewatch, but almost 15 years later the film simply doesn't feel so special anymore.
When Junchu asks Manli to marry him in a letter, she is killed in a traffic accident right before they can meet up. Junchu is heartbroken, but his mother forces him to marry another woman. She tries her best to take care of Junchu, but he keeps pushing her away, until he starts seeing shimmers of Manli in his new wife.
The cinematography is on point (though some special effects haven't aged too well), the performances are solid, and the plot is actually well-developed. The pacing is perfect too, the only problem is that nothing in the film stands out enough. It's a perfectly fine horror/romance cross-over, but nothing more.