Expanded from his 37-minute contribution to 2002’s horror portmanteau 3 Extremes, Fruit Chan’s dark satire manages to poke fun at both Hong Kong and Chinese mores, while also weaving a sinister story of diet, deception and death. In suggesting that Hong Kong’s been corrupted by the base practices of the mainland, Chan also uses retired actress Miriam Yeung’s pathetic quest for eternal youth to show how the colony has learned how to bite back since 1997.
In her first dramatic role, Yeung brings plenty of comic nous to her humiliating visits to singer-turned-medicine-woman Bai Ling, whose rejuvenating delicacies also entice Yeung’s husband, Tony Leung, to indulge in order to satisfy his mistress. However, Chan also keeps the subplots bubbling before delivering a satisfyingly nasty denouement.