Crime drama ‘Napping Kid’ is a good concept hindered by poor storytelling [Movie review]
Local crime drama Napping Kid takes a candid look at financial corruption in Hong Kong, but director Amos Why tries too hard to get his message across to the audience, rather than letting the story tell itself.
Siu-Yu (Cecilia So Lai-shan) is an analyst at an investment bank who discovers that an important financial document is missing. Soon after, Siu-Yu’s boss (Michael Wong Lai-shan) receives an email demanding that HK$190,000 be paid in exchange for the document. If the information is leaked, it may result in the company’s downfall.
To prevent this from happening, a senior at the company, Irene (Candy Cheung) secretly enlists the help of her ex-husband Tong Yu (David Siu), a police inspector who still has feelings for her.
Although the concept of the film is well thought through, the execution could have been better. The plot is confusing from the start, and the heightened drama of certain scenes doesn’t always enhance the feeling of suspense for the audience. The film also breaks the fourth wall regularly to communicate the film’s message directly the audience, but these unnecessary interruptions pull the viewer out of the story.
While Napping Kid is a brilliant exploration of the social unrest in our city, a subtler approach would have been much more effective.