All Shall Be Well 從今以後 (2024) Review: A Contemplative, Well-Acted Drama Depicting the Harsh Realities of Money, Greed and Family Conflict
At one point in Ray Yeung’s All Shall Be Well, his follow-up to Suk Suk a.k.a. Twilight’s Kiss, a character doesn’t mince words upon mentioning “Even mother and son fall out when money’s involved“. Such is life dealing with the harsh reality of familial conflicts and greed when comes to money and inheritance faced by Angie (Patra Au).
But in the first 20 minutes, everything seems perfect as if living in a different reality altogether. We see how Angie and Pat (Maggie Li Lin-Lin), both sixty-something lesbian couple who’s been happily together for over 40 years. Yeung, who also wrote the screenplay, takes his deliberate time wanting us to get invested in this lovely old couple as he depicts their everyday routine from preparing a fresh pot of Chinese tea to having a nice breakfast together at home in their spacious apartment. They later spend their time going to the wet market to get some fresh supplies for a Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner. They also stop by their friends’ florist run by a lesbian couple, Lin (Li Hai Ha) and Dee (Gia Yu Yuk-Wah)
The subsequent get-together with the family from Pat’s side — among them includes her older brother Shing (Tai Bo), who is currently working graveyard shift as a car parking attendant and his wife Mei (Hui So-Ying) and their adult children, Fanny (Fish Liew) and Victor (Leung Chung-Hang), whose respective significant others include husband Sum (Lai Chai-Ming) and girlfriend Kitty (Rachel Leung) — is filled with joy and laughter. As mundane as these scenes are, Yeung and cinematographer Leung Ming-Kai did a great job evoking a sense of warmth, comfort and harmony seen in the blissful life of Angie and Pat and the latter’s family.
However, it doesn’t take long before everything comes crumbling down when Pat dies. The warm and tranquil visual palette that reflects the positive vibes of these characters is now dissolved into something cold and steely. It was particularly devastating for Angie to realise her longtime partner was no longer by her side. Maggie Li Lin-Lin’s Pat may have lasted only a few scenes but the veteran actress imbues her character as a socially likeable and savvy individual who has lived her life to the fullest and her on-screen death is sorely felt throughout the movie.
Yeung could have settled for recurring flashbacks of how Angie and Pat are always happy together typically seen in such a movie about the loss of a loved one but he predominantly refrains himself from doing so and instead, focuses on the aftermath of Pat’s death affects Angie. Unlike Pat, Angie is more of a shy and introverted person, whose subsequent naivety hits her hard after Pat’s seemingly supportive family rears their ugly heads. This is especially true with Shing and his wife, both opportunists using the Hong Kong law related to inheritance as they want to benefit Pat’s hereditary wealth. It’s disheartening enough to see Pat’s family denying Angie’s rights that she deserved. They even go as far as insisting Pat’s ashes be placed in the columbarium, according to the feng shui master Yu (Jimmy Wong Wa-Ho) instead of scattering them at sea as Angie repeatedly stated it was her late partner’s wishes.
Yeung doesn’t paint Pat’s family as surface-level “antagonists” since it’s hard to blame their motivations even if it feels morally and ethically wrong, especially the way they have taken advantage of Angie, who’s been treating them like a family all this while. But there’s no such thing as “family” when it involves monetary gains since Shing isn’t making much money working a menial job as a car parking attendant while his wife works as a hotel housekeeper. Their adult children aren’t any better, with Fanny is a housewife who lives in a cramped apartment and always complains about the noise while Victor struggles to make ends meet driving for Uber.
It was a stark contrast between the late well-off Pat and her family, who’s been grappling with their financial hardships. They desperately needed the money and since the law already dictates Pat’s family is legally entitled to the inheritance, why pass on the opportunity? Yeung, who used to practice law before switching his career as a filmmaker, is making good use of his past knowledge to incorporate how the Hong Kong inheritance law works in general. Angie isn’t asking much other than wanting to continue to stay in the apartment that she and Pat shared for decades. It was the only tangible piece of memory that she wanted to cherish for the rest of her life. And yet, the fact that there’s no will written beforehand and not to forget, the two are not married since Hong Kong does not recognise same-sex marriage, put her at a disadvantage.
Patra Au, who was previously nominated for Best New Performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in Suk Suk, delivers a deeply resonant performance as the emotionally vulnerable Angie. She is equally backed by solid supporting turns from the ensemble cast all around, notably Tai Bo and Hui So-Ying’s matter-of-fact characters as Shing and Mei. Yeung’s assured direction in handling the familiar familial conflicts and greed is thoroughly notable for not resorting to histrionics. Extra credits also go to Yeung for not relying on the music score to bring out the emotions, relying instead on the subtle use of silence and evocative imagery to moving results. Easily one of the best movies of the year.
