The best Hong Kong movies to watch during Chinese New Year

This Jeffrey Lau comedy is a spoof of Louis Cha’s famous wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Boasting an all-star cast of almost all the actors in Ashes of Time, we suppose you could see this movie as the mo lei tau slapstick version of Wong Kar-wai’s film – the auteur also produced this Chinese New Year flick. The shooting schedule was very tight so actors often had to improvise their scenes, working on both The Eagle Shooting Heroes and Ashes of Time simultaneously. We would’ve loved to see the emotional whiplash it must’ve given the cast.

TV news reporter Bill lives in a public housing estate in Sha Tin together with his wife and three daughters. As the family of five struggle to make ends meet, their lives are suddenly changed when Bill’s wife wins the lottery and the family is greeted with an absurd amount of cash. However, word quickly gets out that Bill’s family is struck with fortune, and greedy folks try to capitalise their sudden wealth.

Brothers Lung, Fung, and Sai all have low-self esteem due to being poor. In order to change their luck, the three brothers set out to look for love. Due to an unexpected phone line mishap, the brothers’ lives are thrown into chaos and they end up meeting partners that they want to spend the rest of their lives with.

As the third instalment in the Fight Back to School series, the third film sees Stephen Chow return as undercover cop Chow Sing Sing on another mission. Unlike the previous two films, Chow doesn’t go undercover as a student. Instead, he’s tasked with investigating the murder of millionaire socialite Wong by pretending to be him without raising the suspicions of Wong’s wife, Judy.

All’s Well, Ends Well is a CNY classic that everyone knows. The film revolves around the relationships in the Sheung family and all the shenanigans that go with it. Eldest brother Moon takes his hard-working wife for granted and leaves her for a younger mistress; meanwhile, radio DJ Foon dates one of his fans and youngest brother So, who has a competitive streak with his second cousin Mo-seung that turns into something more.

Hongkongers love mahjong. In fact, they love it so much that there’s an entire movie based around the activity. Mahjong fiend Andy refuses to marry his girlfriend Gigi due to her being a sore loser whenever she starts to lose in a game of mahjong. Disappointed with Andy, Gigi joins a gang led by infamous mahjong con man Sean and ends up cursing Andy’s winning streak. Nonetheless, he’s determined to defeat Sean in a furious mahjong battle and win Gigi’s heart back.

Despite being a catch, Yip is unable to find a partner who’s interested in her. Desperate to change her luck, Yip seeks the help of feng shui expert Lai. However, Lai has one rule – to never work with someone with the surname Yip due to a feud between their ancestors. Knowing this, Yip fakes her last name in order to enlist the help of Lai, but ends up falling in love with him as he helps her out.

All’s Well, Ends Well was so good that we had to add one of its sequels to this list. Love therapist and casanova Koo Chai is hired by Kei to pretend to court his sister, Yu Chu, a hot-tempered magazine editor. Despite being on a mission, Koo falls in love with and leaves Yu heart-broken. Hungry for revenge, Yu seeks the help of Mr Wong, who pretends to be her boyfriend while the pair investigate what Koo gets up to.

Loosely based on the 1973 film The House of 72 Tenants, this modern remake follows the lives of Ha Kung and Shek Kin, two best friends who fended off their greedy landlords who tried to evict the pair and 72 tenants. However, their friendship turned sour after they fought over Pinky, which created a love triangle that led to a 40-year long rivalry between the two.