Subdued yet intelligent horror - Diary

Diary is the Pang Brothers' latest feature, and it is good one. Starring Charlene Choi as Winnie, who lives alone and is apparently suffering from a sudden breakup with her boyfriend, Seth (Shawn Yue). She records her thoughts and events in her diary, but it only serves as a painful reminder of their relationship. A friend, Yvonne (played by Isabella Leong), tries to help her, but Winnie is wallowing in self pity and misery. One day, Winnie sees Seth on the street and calls out to him. It is not Seth -- the man introduces himself as Ray, who looks remarkably like Seth. They have a dinner date, and Winnie reveals that her former boyfriend had died from cancer several years before. Showing pity for her, Ray grows closer to her, and they eventually spend the night together. But Winnie is showing signs of self delusion -- calling her new boyfriend Seth, talking about things that Ray and her never shared. Most disturbing of all, she goes to the market to buying fish, and gives the vendor grief about the change, only to return several minutes later to buy the same fish again. Yvonne is an uncertain influence on her, neither encouraging or dissuading her from dealing with the situation. One evening, as Ray and Winnie are having dinner, it becomes clear to Ray that Winnie is an unstable person, and is cold and distant to her. She becomes upset and has a screaming fit. Suddenly, unexpectedly, veils of her reality are lifted. Ray is tied to the chair, while Winnie recalls all the events that led to this point -- their nights spent together were of her living a fantasy relationship while Ray was bound and gagged. Then she snaps, and kills Ray. A neighbor, complaining of the smell, calls the police, and Winnie is found and taken to headquarters. Finding her diary, the detectives find that it is written in the future, telling of events that never happened. They break open a false brick wall to find another dining room table with a doll tied to the chair. In the diary Winnie reveals that Yvonne had planted the idea of murder in her head, and they bring Yvonne in, along with her boyfriend. Another veil is lifted -- Yvonne is actually Winnie, and Winnie is Yvonne, and the boyfriend is indeed Seth. Seth admitted to being Winnie's ex boyfriend, but now he was married to Yvonne. Winnie, completely delusional, recalls the past events which reveal her nutty state.

This is an effective, low key shocker. On the surface, Diary is filmed like another classic Pang Brothers film, the Eye, with dimly lit and greyish green colors, reflecting Winnie's state of mind. Charlene Choi, one half of the Hong Kong singing duo Twins, does a good job of portraying a unstable woman who becomes insane. Isabella Leung provides a small but important supporting role. But this film is all about the directing, of what they want you to see, then lifting the veils of delusion to reveal a more disturbing reality. The pacing starts slow, but by the 55 minute mark the viewer's patience is rewarded by the chain of events that follow. Clocking under 90 minutes, this is one of the better HK horrors to come by in a long time. A well done film. Recommended!