European Premiere | In Competition | Best Screenplay Candidate | Online
Malaysia, 2025, 87’, Mandarin, Hakka, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Bahasa Malaysia
Directed by: James Lee, Jeremiah Foo
Screenplay: James Lee, Gan Tze Chuan, Jeremiah Foo
Cinematography (color): Patrick Chua
Editing: Sam Hui, Lam Can-zhao
Music: Jeremiah Foo, Season Chu
Producer: Jeremiah Foo
Cast: Anthony Wong (Huang), Kendra Sow (Kim), Angel Lee (Qian), Mike Chuah (Fook Loong)
Date of First Release in Territory: February 25th, 2025
Is the grass always greener on the other side? What truly defines liberation is questioned in Next Stop, Somewhere, a story of two sets of seemingly unrelated couples who turn out to be more closely bound to each other than imagined.
Huang (Anthony Wong) is an actor from Hong Kong who wishes to seek a new life in Taipei. He makes arrangements to relocate, but due to bad timing, finds himself confined in a quarantine hotel. To make matters worse, he learns it won’t be easy to bring over funds from back home. At that hotel, he meets Qian (Angel Lee), the hotel housekeeper.
At first glance, Qian seems comparatively free in spirit, not just because she can roam outside the confinement of Huang’s room but also because of her open living arrangement with her girlfriend. Taiwan being one of the more LGBTQ-friendly nations in Asia, this assumption comes naturally. But to our surprise, it’s this very arrangement that has Qian trapped emotionally, physically, and financially. Unable to make it on her own, Qian only dreams of freedom.
Kim (Kendra Sow) and Fook Loong’s (Mike Chuah) story unfolds simultaneously as Huang and Qian’s. Originally from Vietnam, Kim migrates to Malaysia to marry Loong, a so-called rich man, in search of security. Upon arrival, Kim feels cheated to learn that Loong isn’t so rich after all. If having to learn a new language and culture isn’t enough, Loong’s mother nags about producing a child. Driven to the corner, Kim soon finds solace in another man and opens her eyes to love. Meanwhile, Loong constantly feels suppressed under the watchful eyes of his “Tiger Mother,” but there is no way of getting out.
Although what chains them down varies in shape and size, all four characters long to pursue their own ideas of liberty. Qian and Loong aspire to break free, just like Kim and Huang, but what they don’t know is that the latter two are coping with new challenges that come with being displaced. Both depressing and realistic at the same time, the desire to break free from one struggle leaves the characters conflicted in another way. As if to visually replicate this sense of neverending confinement, the film’s 4:3 ratio hints the viewers that we are all trapped one way or another. What might be in store for these lost souls is unknown, but hopefully, their next stop is somewhere better.
The film successfully retains its uniform style throughout that one would never guess the production took place with two sets of teams in Malaysia and Taiwan. Beautifully shot with mesmerising backgrounds and camerawork, the film’s unadorned, calm approach allows the story to speak louder without having to downright say anything. The superb performance from the main cast, especially Anthony Wong, allows viewers to absorb the situations as if they’re reflections of their own diasporic experiences.
Separated by distance but connected by the desire to break free, a hundred-dollar bill that gets passed around creates an additional visual connection between the four characters. It seems to carry a tangible message. Life is full of complexity, and when you gain some, you lose some too. Freedom might cost you, but such is life.
James Lee
James Lee is a Malaysian director, cinematographer, producer, actor, and writer, and one of the pioneers of the Malaysian Digital Film Movement, also known as the Malaysian New Wave. He worked on over 70 feature films, shorts, and series. The feature film The Beautiful Washing Machine won the Best Asean Feature Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Bangkok International Film Festival 2005, and in 2015, his short film Last Day of School snatched 7 awards at Singapore’s Gong Creative Circle Awards. In 2019, Two Sisters screened at the 21st Udine Far East Film Festival.
FILMOGRAPHY
2001 – Snipers
2004 – The Beautiful Washing Machine
2006 – Before We Fall In Love Again
2007 – Waiting for Love
2009 – Histeria
2009 – Call if You Need Me
2019 – Two Sisters
2025 – Next Stop, Somewhere