My Prince Edward, written and directed by Norris Wong Yee-lam. Starring Stephy Tang and Chu Pak-hong. Hong Kong, 92 minutes, IIB. Opens June 11. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

In any normal year, June would be the time when movie screens got clogged with mindless, noisy movie fare, defined by space ships, muscular men in bright stockings and gunfire. For a host of reasons, we’re not having that this year. But as the international Hollywood film industry gets ready to de-and-reconstruct itself, a window opens for all those voices that have previously been drowned out by the world’s dominant cultural apparatus. 

Admittedly, Disney cannot be referred to as a smothered voice; it’s the behemoth that does the smothering, often of independent Hong Kong cinema. A year ago, its latest, Onward, would have completely drowned out local drama My Prince Edward, and killed any chance the latter had of finding an audience beyond its niche. In summer 2020, however, they can share the spotlight. 

Parents with young children who haven’t subscribed to Disney will welcome Onward — Pixar’s tale of two brothers on a quest to bring their dead father back from beyond for a day, so that the younger, Ian (voiced by Tom Holland) can meet him and the elder, Barley (Chris Pratt), can show him how he’s grown. Problems arise when the spell Ian attempts to cast only brings the man’s legs back, and the race is on to recast it. 

Onward isn’t peak Pixar — it’s not nearly as layered and emotional as Up, Wall-E or Toy Story 3 — but more nuanced than most of the formerly innovative animator’s output since the House of Mouse purchased it. It is a simple story about a family’s ability to adapt and how we often take this for granted, backed by a few genuinely funny moments. 

Onward, directed by Dan Scanlon, written by Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley, Keith Bunin. Starring Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. USA, 101 minutes, I. Opens June 18. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

At the other end of the spectrum is Norris Wong’s My Prince Edward, which is every bit as simple, but informed by a personal touch that will make it resonate with scores of women in Hong Kong and beyond. 

Pivoting on Cheung Lei-fong (Stephy Tang, who has quickly become one of the city’s most engaging actors) and her struggle to reconcile familial and societal pressures to get married with her own agency and desires, Wong’s willfully prosaic narrative allows its message to sneak up on you. 

Fong works at a bridal shop in Prince Edward’s famed Golden Plaza, and is blindsided by a marriage proposal from her boyfriend of seven years, mama’s boy Edward (stage actor Chu Pak-hong). She ponders the engagement while trying to secure a divorce from Yang Shuwei (Jin Kaijie), who she married for mutual convenience years before. 

For some the lack of conflict renders the drama thin, but by removing the “villains” from the story (neither Edward nor Shuwei are bad guys), Wong keeps the focus squarely on the persistent, invisible messaging that gives women the idea that they need to be paired to be successful. 

My Prince Edward is a strong, low-key debut with an uncompromising point-of-view narrative that deserves an audience, which it just might get.