A high school reunion takes a dark turn, as each of those present remembers the past very differently. Bizhan Tong’s Tape – an interpretation of Richard Linklater’s film of the same name and set in Hong Kong – opens in UK cinemas on 19th September 2025.
Occasionally, one comes across a film which started life as a movie made in a language other than English, and someone in Hollywood decides it would be a good idea – whether for financial or cultural reasons – to remake it in English. Seldom, however, does the inverse occur.
Tape, the latest feature from Bizhan Tong – a British filmmaker of Chinese and Persian heritage – is actually a reinterpretation of Richard Linklater’s 2001 film of the same name, transposed to contemporary Hong Kong. Linklater, together with original writer Stephen Belber, is credited as Executive Producer.
Tape is a study of three high school friends who meet up after 15 years in the rented apartment of one of the men. Jon (Kenny Kwan) is a burgeoning film-maker, back in town to show his latest film at the big film festival. Jon dresses smartly, has adopted a Western name, and seems to think quite highly of himself. His old friend Wing (Adam Pak) on the other hand, is a volunteer lifeguard who appears to make his money from selling illicit substances to teenagers. Wing invites Jon to visit him while he’s in town to catch up on life.
The third part of the triangle is Amy (Selena Lee), now a lawyer but who in high school had a relationship with both men, and who is also invited by Wing to meet in his apartment a little later. The trio’s casual meet up takes several unexpected turns throughout the narrative, such that knowing whose truth is the correct truth becomes an impossibility.
Their conversations wander around themes of how we choose to remember events past based on what kind of person we believe ourselves to be, how we bend or invent truths to justify our behaviour, how our emotions (jealousy, anger, shame) manifest themselves when we’re under pressure, as well as some of the issues around being young in contemporary Asian society.
The stand out performance is from Selena Lee. While the two men fighting over their interpretation of the past sometimes seem a little mired in the dialogue, once she turns up, things change. Amy is immediately in charge of the situation, something which surprises both Jon and Wing, to the extent that audiences will sense their fear at what she might calmly do. Lee is mesmerising.
It is fair to say that Tape either doesn’t try, or tries and fails, to hide its origins as a stage play. It’s almost exclusively set in a small studio apartment so there’s nowhere for anyone to go (even the bathroom is only shielded by a string door curtain) and so while this definitely strengthens the claustrophobia, it also emphasises the wordiness of the dialogue. While this doesn’t detract from the storyline at all, it does require some deftness in the performances which is not always present.
However, as a chamber piece on our relationship with perceptions and interpretations of the past, it is very compelling.