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11 best Hong Kong films on Netflix to stream this Lunar New Year: from Jackie Chan action movies to romance with Andy Lau and classic Chow Yun-fat comedies

STORYDouglas Parkes
Andy Lau (left) and Stephen Chow in Hong Kong comedy Tricky Brains. Photo: Instagram (@celestialmovies)
Andy Lau (left) and Stephen Chow in Hong Kong comedy Tricky Brains. Photo: Instagram (@celestialmovies)
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

  • Gathering around the TV is an unofficial LNY holiday tradition, but forget The Queen’s Gambit or K-drama – Netflix also hosts a raft of Hong Kong classics
  • From God of Gamblers to An Autumn’s Tale or a classic Stephen Chow comedy, these now-streaming picks are sure to get the family together

The Year of the Ox is nearly upon us. There are a number of traditions that you might be observing over the Lunar New Year holiday, from visiting family, and giving and receiving red packets (hongbao) to simply savouring traditional Lunar New Year foods such as poon choi.
Another unofficial Hong Kong tradition is sitting around at home with the relatives and watching a film or two on TV. In more ordinary years, when a lethal pandemic hadn’t enforced social distancing and shut down public facilities, families would also go to the cinema and watch one of the special Lunar New Year movies, which were often the biggest hits of the year.

Unfortunately, that is not an option in 2021. You can still count on Netflix, though, for there’s more to the streaming service than just viral hits like The Queen’s Gambit or Tiger King. Over the years, Netflix has added an array of local Hong Kong films, many of which make are perfect for a Lunar New Year family gathering.

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Here are 11 of the best Hong Kong classics currently streaming on Netflix.

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World 

A traditional LNY classic, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World looks at the life of the Pui family. An assortment of everyday Hongkongers, the Puis get by but money is tight. The family patriarch, played by Bill Tung, works a respectable television job but his on-air gaffs earn him the wrath of his boss. Then there’s the trouble with the family’s three daughters, one deeply in love with her boyfriend, one who dreams of going to Japan, and the youngest who is an academic prodigy. All these fun storylines get turned inside out when the family wins the lottery and becomes rich overnight.

The Magnificent Scoundrels

This is one of Stephen Chow’s earliest hits and still one of his funniest. A great comedy, perfect for family gatherings, The Magnificent Scoundrels pairs Chow with Teresa Mo as a couple of con artists badly in debt. Separately, the pair come up with a scheme to pay off the loan sharks hounding them. However, Chow and Mo continually get in each other’s way, to much hilarity. The humour isn’t always sophisticated – there are plenty of jokes about people’s appearance and at least one gag involving vomit – but overall this is still one of Chow’s most consistently amusing films.

The Thirty Million Dollar Rush