Review | Time Still Turns the Pages movie review: Hong Kong family drama uses student suicides as cue for a heart-wrenching tale of guilt and redemption
- Time Still Turns the Pages is a poignant tale of emotional torture, regret and redemption told through a student contemplating ending his own life
- Writer-director Nick Cheuk’s gem of a film is relatively short at 95 minutes, but full of feeling – watch out for the third act’s emotional gut punch
4/5 stars
A Hong Kong schoolboy’s year-long contemplation of whether to end his own life, and the impact this episode has in the following decades, form the dual narrative of Time Still Turns the Pages, a deeply poignant tale of emotional torture, regret and redemption via open, honest communication.
All his students, including a bullying victim in his class (Henick Chou Han-ning), have heard about his marital problems. But when the janitor finds an anonymous suicide note in his classroom’s rubbish bin, the perpetually sad Cheng embarks on an urgent mission to prevent another tragedy.
If the film’s quietly depressing first scene – in which a 10-year-old boy named Eli Cheng (Sean Wong Tsz-lok) makes his way to his residential building’s rooftop and readies himself to jump – has not made the story’s premise clear enough, that is because it is intentional.
For much of the film, Cheuk keeps the connection between Eli and the seemingly guilt-ridden adult Mr Cheng vague, even as he repeatedly shows the latter reading the former’s diary and reliving the boy’s increasingly dark thoughts.
While there is a touch of miserabilism to the series of misfortunes that befall Eli – he fails his exams no matter how hard he tries, his beloved piano teacher is let go by his parents behind his back, and so on – the film manages to save its emotional gut punch for a transcendent third act.
To say any more about its plot turns would be to spoil Cheuk’s carefully concealed attempt at tear-jerking. Suffice to say that, even with a brisk runtime of 95 minutes, he skilfully conveys layers of feeling in his heavy-hearted protagonists.
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, dial +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services.
