Good Trip : A Tender, Funny Road Trip Through Grief

Good Trip begins with a dying man’s daydream and never quite lets go of its bittersweet playfulness. A cancer patient with weeks to live cajoles his overworked daughter into an impromptu journey from a Hong Kong hospital to Macau and Okinawa, revisiting old wounds and half-finished business. It could curdle into sentimentality, but its real achievement is tone: light enough to laugh at a father’s stubbornness, heavy enough to catch you off guard when grief surfaces. Anyone who has sat beside a dying parent will recognise the strange guilt of wanting to keep them close and the quiet relief of simply being in the same car, talking nonsense.

That balance rests on Nick Cheung and Chung Suet-ying, whose chemistry is off the chart. Cheung’s ageing film extra is all bluster, physical comedy and mischief, yet his eyes soften whenever his daughter looks away; paternal pride is clumsy and unspoken. Chung’s art assistant is tired exasperation and unspoken devotion, her guarded face cracking in tiny, devastating increments as she realises she is becoming the parent. Their bickering has perfect timing; their silences are better. Their performance earned my votes as the contenders for next year’s Hong Kong Film Awards. Chung, already a Golden Horse best actress winner for The Way We Talk (《看我今天怎麼說》) and nominated at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Time (《殺出個黃昏》) and The Lyricist Wannabe (《填詞L》), is also excellent in We Are Born Good (《善男信女》).

Yusuke Hatano’s excellent soundtrack is a character in its own right: plucked strings and soft piano drift through hospital corridors, swell mischievously during the Macau detour, then recede into near-silence for Okinawa. The Japanese composer, winner of a Hong Kong Film Award for Soul Mate and honours at the Golden Screen Awards and Hamilton Behind the Scenes Awards, knows when to let silence work.

I was visibly moved during the film, and so were many in the audience. Alongside We Are Born Good, Good Trip ranks as one of the year’s two finest Hong Kong films. Don’t miss it.

Elven Ho