''Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong'' is a 2015

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

written and directed by Emily Ting and starring real-life couple

Jamie Chung Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appea ...

and

Bryan Greenberg Bryan Greenberg (born May 24, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series '' How to Make It in America'' as well as a recurring role in ''The Mindy Project''. He also had a recurring rol ...

. The film premiered at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival received a limited theatrical and VOD release in February 2016.

Plot

Outside a bar, Ruby Lin, an American children's toy designer temporarily in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, makes plans over her phone to meet her friends at another bar. Overhearing that her phone doesn't have a GPS and she is lost, American expat Josh Rosenberg offers to walk her to her destination. As they walk and talk and find a connection sparking between them, Josh tells Ruby that he works in finance, but longs to be a writer and she encourages him to quit his job to write a novel. Once they reach the location where Ruby is supposed to meet her friends, Ruby offers to stand them up to get a drink with Josh. At the bar he confesses to Ruby that he has a girlfriend and the reason he was outside the bar and overheard Ruby's conversation was because he had left his girlfriend inside doing birthday shots and flirting with other men. Ruby is infuriated and leaves. A year later, aboard the

Star Ferry The Star Ferry () is a passenger ferry service operator and tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Its principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The service is operated by the Star Ferry Com ...

, Josh spots Ruby and re-introduces himself hoping to apologize to her. He tells her that their conversation affected him profoundly and he has quit his job in finance to work as a writer over the past year. Ruby tells him that she has been living in Hong Kong for the past year due to a promotion that temporarily relocated her there. In the spirit of honesty, Josh tells Ruby he and his girlfriend are still together while Ruby tells Josh she also has a long-distance boyfriend. The two spend the night reconnecting and gradually feel themselves drifting together romantically once more. While slow dancing at a lounge, Josh is spotted by a friend of his girlfriend's and Ruby is upset, feeling that they have been emotionally cheating with one another. Josh and Ruby split a cab to go home, and Ruby admits to Josh that her boyfriend is actually her fiancé and she is leaving Hong Kong within the week. They both admit that they do not want to cheat with each other but have feelings for each other. The two sit in the cab outside Ruby's apartment trying to decide what to do.

Cast

as Ruby Lin *

as Josh Rosenberg *

Richard Ng Richard Ng Yiu-hon (27 December 1939 – 9 April 2023), also known as Richard Woo, was a Hongkongers, Hong Kong actor known for playing comedic roles, particularly in Hong Kong films of the 1980s and 1990s. Film and television career Ng a ...

as Fortune Teller *

Sarah Lian Sarah Lian (; born 12 May 1983), is a Chinese Malaysian actress and television personality based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was born in Taiping, Perak Malaysia but mainly grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Lian is an actor ver ...

as Monica * Zach Hines as Josh's Friend * Linda Trinh as Joyce

Production

Writer-director Emily Ting, an American of Asian descent, based the script on her own experiences as an expat in

. Ting was also inspired by

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

's ''

Before Sunrise ''Before Sunrise'' is a 1995 Romance film, romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Kim Krizan, and is the first installment in the Before trilogy, ''Before'' trilogy. In the film, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) an ...

''. Ting cast real-life couple

and

to play the couple in her movie after working with Greenberg on ''

The Kitchen A kitchen is a room used for the preparation of food. Kitchen, or The Kitchen, may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Kitchen'' (1966 film), an American film * ''Kitchen'' (1997 film), a Hong Kong film * ''The Kitchen'' (1961 film ...

''.

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews. Andrew Barker for

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

called it "a simple valentine to Hong Kong’s expat nightlife".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 3700804 2015 films 2015 romance films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s Hong Kong films American romance films English-language Hong Kong films English-language romance films Films about interracial romance Films directed by Emily Ting Films set in Hong Kong Hong Kong romance films