Unlucky Plaza
| Unlucky Plaza | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken Kwek |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Ken Kwek |
| Starring |
|
| Music by |
|
| Cinematography | Michael Zaw |
| Edited by | Olly Strothert |
Production company |
Kaya Toast Pictures |
| Distributed by | Shaw Organisation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | Singapore |
| Language | English |
| Budget | S$800,000[1] |
| Box office | US$46,331 (Singapore) |
Unlucky Plaza is a 2014 Singaporean black comedy thriller film written and directed by Ken Kwek. It stars Epy Quizon as a Filipino immigrant to Singapore who takes hostages after falling for a scam. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in Singapore in April 16, 2015. The story is told in a series of flashbacks from the point of view of a talk show that has reunited the captor and his former hostages.
Plot
Filipino immigrant Onassis Hernandez mistreats his restaurant workers, causing a disgruntled cook to sabotage an inspection by the Singaporean health department. After Hernandez subsequently falls for a popular rental scam that targets immigrants, he takes several Singaporeans hostage and broadcasts his demands for social change on YouTube.
Cast
- Epy Quizon as Onassis Hernandez
- Adrian Pang as Sky
- Judee Tan as Michelle Chan
- Shane Mardjuki as Pastor Tong Wen
- Guo Liang as Baby Bear
- Christian Wong as Popoy
- Andrew Lua as Ping
- Osman Sulaiman as Inspector Asman
- Janice Koh as Cindy
- Pam Oei as Mrs. Heng
- Anita Kapoor as herself
Production
The film was based on reports of rental scams that were popular on immigrants.[1]
Release
Unlucky Plaza premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival[2] on September 4, 2014.[3] It's Singaporean premiere was at the Singapore International Film Festival on December 4, 2014.[1] Shaw Organisation released it in Singapore on April 16, 2015,[4] and it grossed US$46,331.[5] Cinemaflix Entertainment released it in the US in January 2016.[6] & finally released in the Philippines co-produced by VIVA Films in April 2016.
Reception
Collecting four American reviews, Metacritic, a review aggregator, rated it 38/100.[7] Stephanie Luo of AsiaOne rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote that it "highlights real issues in Singapore society well", though it has several unrealistic scenes.[8] Iliyas Ong of Time Out Singapore rated it 2/5 stars and wrote the film's social satire, "As belaboured and on-the-nose as Kwek's point is, it's also terrifyingly real."[9] Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Sentimentality and small-screen aesthetics turn social critique into soap opera."[10] Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times wrote that the talk show framing device "destroys the suspense and seals a sense of the movie as both slick and amateurish".[11] Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Writer-director Ken Kwek means for the proceedings to be farcical, but seldom are they actually funny."[12] Simon Abrams of The Village Voice wrote, "Kwek's refreshing focus on his terrorized protagonists' pre-abduction lives keeps Unlucky Plaza afloat once it invests in generic ticking-clock thrills."[13]
References
- 1 2 3 Lui, John (2014-11-12). "Singapore film festival opening film Unlucky Plaza is entertaining and has depth, says festival director". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Coonan, Clifford (2014-09-08). "Toronto: Banned Singaporean Director Debuts 'Unlucky Plaza'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ "What's On - September 4". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Loh, Genevieve Sarah (2014-12-22). "Unlucky Plaza to be shown in cinemas in April 2015". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ "Unlucky Plaza". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Loh, Genevieve Sarah (2015-12-31). "S’pore film Unlucky Plaza to show in US". Today Online. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ "Unlucky Plaza". Metacritic. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Luo, Stephanie (2015-04-15). "Movie review: Unlucky Plaza". AsiaOne. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Ong, Iliyas (2015-04-01). "Unlucky Plaza". Time Out Singapore. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Tsui, Clarence (2014-12-04). "'Unlucky Plaza': Singapore Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Rapold, Nicolas (2016-01-07). "Review: In ‘Unlucky Plaza,’ a Comic Hostage Crisis via Tabloid Storytelling". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Tsai, Martin (2016-01-15). "Review 'Unlucky Plaza' undeftly delves beneath Singapore's orderly, multicultural facade". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ Abrams, Simon (2016-01-05). "Singaporean Hostage Thriller 'Unlucky Plaza' Has Character to Spare". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2016-04-01.