Won a few Awards: HKFCS Award and Asian Film Awards to name a few, this film might not be everybody’s cup of tea. The perturbing opening shot as a metaphor that offers a hint of something deadly and emotionally disturbed ending might not be picked up by large. Nevertheless, the images through out the film are very engaging that help the viewer to dwell into the story further.

‘Sham Moh’ in Mandarin or ’At the End of Daybreak’ in English, portrays a drama of a young guy with no ambition or vision in life is brought into a dilemma when he had to choose his family or his girlfriend. It sounds like any usual dilemma in our real life that makes it less a sensational story to be told but Ho Yuhang, the director plays with the semiotics through the visual  storytelling, heightens the emotions and suspense.  It pushes the audience to feel and see through the protagonist’s eyes, and we are forced to feel stuck and lost. The protagonist who is living under poverty with her single mother, is pushed to pay a big amount of money to the girlfriend’s family when the family found out that he is having a sexual relationship with their underage daughter. Even after the payment is being made, the family threatens to go to court (we just love this type of setups, as there might be such evil families out there who might do the same thing). Nevertheless, our anticipation has drawn in, in thinking that this family does exist, we are rooting further with the protagonist’s turmoil.

The ending? Well you have to wait till the end of daybreak to find out

Venue: Locarno International Film Festival
Production: Paperheart
Cast: Chui Tien You, Wai Ying-Hong, Ng Meng Hui
Director-screeenwriter: Ho Yuhang
Producer: Lorna Tee
Director of photography: Teih Gay Hian
Production designer: Gan Siong King
Music: Pete Teo
Editor: Mindy Wong Vern Yee
No rating, 94 minutes
My Rate: 7.5