Trough, The (2018) Review

“The Trough” Theatrical Poster

Director: Nick Cheung
Cast: Nick Cheung, Xu Jing-Lei, He Jiong, Yu Nan, Michael Miu Kiu-Wai, Yuen Wah, Lam Suet, Louis Cheung, Maggie Cheung Hoh-Yee, Li Hai-Tao, Chris Collins
Running Time: 112 min.

By Paul Bramhall

It’s been 3 years since Nick Cheung last sat in the director’s chair for his sophomore feature Keeper of Darkness, which saw him sticking to the horror tropes of his directorial debut. For his third outing though, titled The Trough, the horror genre has been cast aside, and in its place is a neo-noir styled slice of pulpy crime fiction. Like his previous two outings as director, Cheung also casts himself as the star, and if anything it proves that the HK thespians directorial trajectory is certainly an interesting one.

While Hungry Ghost Ritual was a relatively low-key outing that received lukewarm reviews, one thing that it did achieve is to give Cheung the confidence to go all out for his sophomore feature. Keeper of Darkness employed an ‘everything and the kitchen sink’ approach to its narrative, bouncing from horror to romance to comedy to dark drama with reckless abandon. It may sound unwieldy on paper, but Cheung’s yellow hair dyed ghost negotiator anchored proceedings in such a way, that it never felt as schizophrenic as it arguably was.

The Trough shows that his ambitions aren’t likely to see a return to the low-key any time soon, with a plot that sees him cast as an undercover cop in an underworld gang. At this point it’d be fair to think that this was a plot which has been done in HK and Chinese cinema plenty of times before – from Infernal Affairs to Extraordinary Mission – there’s plenty to choose from. However The Trough sets itself apart by not being set in Hong Kong or China, instead, Cheung has opted to create a completely fictional setting called Solo City. A kind of Sin City-esque landscape of low lives and lawlessness, its pulpy aesthetic is one that becomes more immersive the deeper we progress into his characters murky world.

Before that though, things get off to a rocky start. Kicking off in the desert, we find Cheung living a life of solitude, with nothing but a bluesy electric guitar driven soundtrack and an awful CGI hyena for company. Yes, even worse that those CGI hyena’s in Kung Fu Yoga. Tired of the undercover life, and indeed life in general, he doesn’t think twice about staring the hyena down. He may have hit rock bottom, but even at rock bottom you can be a bad ass. Upon returning to Solo City, he’s tasked with taking down ‘The Boss’, the mastermind behind the criminal activity plaguing the city. The key to taking down this mysterious unseen figure lies with a little girl, who’s been kidnapped from the orphanage she was in the care of, and ends up being reluctantly taken under Cheung’s wing. Every dirty cop and gangster seem to be after the girl, but for what reason nobody knows.

While the plot may sound relatively straight forward on paper, onscreen it frequently comes across as muddled. Cheung desperately wants us to empathize with his undercover cop, and his attempts to create that empathy range from the bizarre to the bombastic, sometimes both at the same time. One shot of him strolling moodily down a street, abruptly cuts to him plummeting through the air in a wingsuit, yelling at the top of his voice as the ground rapidly approaches. It’s a jarring shift, and while I appreciate such scenes are supposed to show he has a death wish (playing Russian roulette in your trailer is so 80’s), his placement of them is the equivalent of inserting a death metal track into the middle of a Michael Bublé number.

Indeed Cheung’s lofty ambitions, more so than either of his previous directorial efforts, are here restricted with the budget he has to work with. Most of the first half hour is made up of sets that look too sparsely decorated to give the illusion of reality, and random moments such as the wingsuit scene only serve to make it easy to declare The Trough an early write off. However as events progress, so it begins to find its footing, and both his character and direction begin to feel more assured. A gun fight in a dusty out of the way laundromat, presided over by the ever reliable Lam Suet, serves as a loud alarm to announce that things are going to get bloody and bullet riddled. Yes it may be CGI blood, however with the almost monochromatic washed out palette (think Once Upon a Time in Shanghai), the bursts of red still deliver the desired impact.

Much like Keeper of Darkness, as a viewer you eventually find yourself willing to go along with the jarring tonal shifts, and enjoy his overly ambitious tale of crooked cops and hidden villains. From the moody opening scenes, which aim to establish his characters devil may care attitude, once the plot actually kicks in, the action comes thick and fast. Interestingly, The Trough’s action direction duties go to Korean’s Bak Ju-cheon and Yu Sang-seob, and they have the desired effect of bringing a more down and dirty style of action to the table. There are gun fights aplenty, with Cheung using the opportunity to indulge in some double fisted handgun action (who can blame him?), and we even get a nicely staged knife fight with Philip Ng, clocking in a cameo appearance.

It’s safe to say that by the time talk turns to neurologically enhancing children with mental disabilities, and we’ve witnessed a car crashing from one high-rise floor across the street into another (think the exact same scene in Transporter 2), then the only sign left of the brooding opening is the ever present rain. As unwieldy as his narrative is, The Trough arguably owes a debt to its impressive supporting cast, who all commit to their roles regardless of how slight or bizarre they may be. The legendary Yuen Wah has an entertainingly violent role, as a gangster that leads an assault which goes all kinds of wrong. Needless to say, his fans will get a kick out of his role here far more than his rather thankless appearance in the same years Master Z: Ip Man Legacy.

The aforementioned Philip Ng and Lam Suet also play their parts, with He Jiong being an effective counterpoint as Cheung’s dry (and incorruptible) police contact, along with his tech expert sidekick played by Yun Nan (here’s hoping she turns up in Wolf Warrior 3!). Fans of Hong Kong cinema will no doubt enjoy the presence of the likes of Louis Cheung (watch out for the nod to Election), a particularly effective Michael Miu as a world weary gangster, Maggie Cheung Hoh-Yee as a crooked cop, and plenty more. Although, for those wondering, no Louis Koo (that’s a positive). Xu Jing-Lei, from the likes of The Warlords and Shinjuku Incident plays a pivotal role that it would be a spoiler to reveal here, however I can’t help but feel it would have been more effective if we’d spent more time with her character.

Cheung’s smartest move is perhaps the one he saves for when the credits are rolling. For those wondering how such a tale could ever get passed for Mainland distribution, he smartly stages a scene that plays alongside the end credits. Visiting a drug lord in Thailand, Cheung explains in no uncertain terms that he’s to stop the supply of drugs being sent to China (I mean Solo City) or else he’ll face the consequences. There we go – despite the murkiness of the character, the fact that he’s against drugs was obviously enough to give it a big fat tick of approval from our friends in the SARFT.

It’s true that The Trough falls short of its lofty ambitions, restricted perhaps equally by the regulations it has to adhere to as much as its budget. However Cheung’s voice as a director is still one that comes through loud and clear, and it’s a voice that’s worth paying attention to. A mess of style over substance it may be, but it’s a good looking one, and for that it’s worth checking out.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10