# Lost in Hong Kong (港囧)
**Lost in Hong Kong** (港囧) is a 2015 Chinese comedy film directed by, written by, and starring Xu Zheng, in which a middle-aged mainland Chinese man on a family trip to Hong Kong secretly tries to meet his university first love while becoming entangled in a murder investigation.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong) • [2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) It is the third entry in Xu Zheng's "Lost" (囧) series, following *[Lost on Journey](https://www.edgepedia.org/lost-on-journey)* and *Lost in Thailand* (2012).[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lostinhongkong/) Released in mainland China on 25 September 2015, it set opening-day records and became one of the highest-grossing Chinese-language films of the year, even as many critics panned it.[2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / star | Xu Zheng, who also produced and co-wrote; his company Zhenledao was one of the production and distribution companies[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong) • [4](https://en.jiemian.com/article/386487.html) |
| Main cast | Xu Zheng as Xu Lai, Zhao Wei (Vicki Zhao) as his wife Cai Bo, Bao Bei'er as brother-in-law Cai Lala, Du Juan as first love Yang Yi[2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) • [5](https://wellgousa.com/films/lost-hong-kong) |
| Mainland release | 25 September 2015; 1.2 billion yuan (about HK$1.46 billion) by 4 October 2015[2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) |
| Opening records | First Chinese-language film to take more than 200 million yuan on its first day and on each of its first three days[2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) |
| Runtime / language | 114 minutes, in Mandarin[5](https://wellgousa.com/films/lost-hong-kong) |
| Critical reception | 60% Tomatometer (5 reviews) and 50% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 5.4/10 on IMDb from about 2,100 votes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4242158/ratings/) |
| North America | Distributed by Well Go USA; limited theatrical release 25 September 2015, streaming 1 March 2016; US gross $1.3 million[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Xu Lai (Xu Zheng) once wanted to be a painter; twenty years on he designs brassieres for his wife's family lingerie business, supports an extended family, and faces a wife, Cai Bo ([Zhao Wei](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhao-wei)), who wants a child.[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lostinhongkong/) • [7](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/lost-in-hong-kong-2015/) When an invitation arrives to an art exhibition in Hong Kong held by Yang Yi (Du Juan), the university sweetheart who left him for a scholarship there, Xu plans a family sightseeing trip as cover for a secret rendezvous.[7](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/lost-in-hong-kong-2015/) • [2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) His plan is frustrated by his brother-in-law Cai Lala (Bao Bei'er), an aspiring documentarian with a DV camera who suspects a secret and shadows Xu through the city.[7](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/lost-in-hong-kong-2015/) The trip turns sour when Xu becomes wrapped up in a murder investigation, with a pair of Hong Kong policemen (Sam Lee and Eric Kot) in pursuit.[8](https://www.flicks.co.uk/movie/lost-in-hong-kong/) • [7](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/lost-in-hong-kong-2015/) The emotional throughline is the kiss from his first love that Xu never completed twenty years earlier; by the end he realizes the person he has wanted is the wife he has been married to for two decades.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong)
## Production
The screenplay took eighteen months from first planning to final draft, with writers' meeting recordings of roughly a hundred hours and meeting notes of well over a hundred thousand characters.[4](https://en.jiemian.com/article/386487.html) Shu Huan, the lead writer on *Lost in Thailand*, wrote the first and third drafts (the first independently alongside Xing Aina, the second with Su Liang), and Xu Zheng wrote three further drafts himself.[4](https://en.jiemian.com/article/386487.html) The story grew from a single sentence: a man goes to Hong Kong wanting to see his first love.[4](https://en.jiemian.com/article/386487.html) Xu Zheng said he wanted to upgrade the series' comedy with strong plot elements such as action and gunfights, and that the theme of an unfinished psychological debt came from [Haruki Murakami](https://www.edgepedia.org/haruki-murakami)'s story "The Second Bakery Attack".[9](https://media.people.com.cn/n/2015/0925/c40606-27632168.html) During shooting the crew worked through older Hong Kong districts such as Kwun Tong and [Kowloon City](https://www.edgepedia.org/kowloon-city), and Xu described choosing Hong Kong as a tribute to the [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese) pop songs, Hong Kong films, and other cultural symbols that shaped the generation of mainlanders born in the 1960s and 1970s.[10](https://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-11/13/c_128424302.htm)
## Hong Kong pop culture homage
The film is built on dense references to Hong Kong cinema and music of the 1980s and 1990s. Reviewers noted [Wong Kar-wai](https://www.edgepedia.org/wong-kar-wai) references, the influence of Peter Chan's *Comrades, Almost a Love Story* in the opening romance, [Leslie Cheung](https://www.edgepedia.org/leslie-cheung) ballads, a theme song by [Faye Wong](https://www.edgepedia.org/faye-wong), and appearances by Hong Kong character actors including Wong Jing, Bobby Yip, Lam Suet, and Tin Kai-Man.[7](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/lost-in-hong-kong-2015/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong) • [3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lostinhongkong/) The Los Angeles Times critic Martin Tsai called the film "an all-encompassing love letter to Hong Kong filmmaking", in contrast to *Lost in Thailand*'s homage to Stephen Chow slapstick.[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-in-hong-kong/critic-reviews/) Xu Zheng said the production team built databases of Hong Kong filming locations, classic lines, action scenes, and 147 veteran Hong Kong supporting actors to source the material.[12](https://m.maoyan.com/apollo/movie/246577/extras/highlights)
## Box office and reception
The film debuted on 25 September 2015 and by 1 October had passed 1 billion yuan, at that point the fastest a domestic Chinese film had reached that mark.[12](https://m.maoyan.com/apollo/movie/246577/extras/highlights) By 4 October it had taken 1.2 billion yuan and was projected to overtake the 2.43 billion yuan of *[Monster Hunt](https://www.edgepedia.org/monster-hunt)* to become the year's biggest film on the mainland.[2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) The South China Morning Post reported that critics and some industry insiders attributed the commercial triumph more to marketing than to filmmaking quality.[2](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s) Pirated copies circulated online soon after release, prompting Xu Zheng to appeal to friends on WeChat for help.[12](https://m.maoyan.com/apollo/movie/246577/extras/highlights)
Critical response was mixed. The Los Angeles Times gave the film 90 on Metacritic, calling it a rollicking crowd-pleaser that might be one of the year's best; Variety gave 70, praising its action acrobatics and family drama as an ode to Hong Kong cinema; The New York Times gave 50, writing that it "tries too hard to be too many things".[11](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-in-hong-kong/critic-reviews/) Dennis Schwartz rated it C+ and found it did not transfer well for American audiences.[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lostinhongkong/) Chinese commentary made a similar structural point: the emotional line about middle-age crisis was underdeveloped relative to the action, leaving the film's ambitions only partly realized.[13](https://media.people.com.cn/n/2015/0929/c40606-27644850.html) On Rotten Tomatoes the film scored 60 percent among five critics and 50 percent among audiences; on IMDb it holds 5.4/10.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4242158/ratings/)
## Place in the series
*Lost in Thailand* (2012) had earned 1.267 billion yuan and set the annual record for a Chinese-language film at the domestic box office, and Xu Zheng held the "domestic box office champion" label for 943 days before *Monster Hunt* took it in July 2015.[4](https://en.jiemian.com/article/386487.html) *Lost in Hong Kong* continued the series' road-movie structure and its theme of searching, but Xu Zheng said he wanted it to carry more emotional weight than the two earlier pure comedies, treating middle-age crisis as its subject.[10](https://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-11/13/c_128424302.htm) The series continued with *Lost in Russia* (囧妈), announced in 2019 with Xu Zheng again as director, writer, producer, and star.[14](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_3060121)
## References
1. [Lost in Hong Kong, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_in_hong_kong)
2. [Why Lost in Hong Kong could overtake Monster Hunt to become 2015's biggest Chinese film, South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1864114/why-lost-hong-kong-could-overtake-monster-hunt-become-2015s)
3. [Lost in Hong Kong review, Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/lostinhongkong/)
4. ["难伺候"的徐峥 如何三年磨一囧, Jiemian (财经天下周刊)](https://en.jiemian.com/article/386487.html)
5. [Lost In Hong Kong, official movie site, Well Go USA](https://wellgousa.com/films/lost-hong-kong)
6. [Lost in Hong Kong (2015) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4242158/ratings/)
7. [Review: Lost in Hong Kong (2015), Heroic Cinema](https://www.heroic-cinema.com/reviews/lost-in-hong-kong-2015/)
8. [Lost in Hong Kong, Flicks](https://www.flicks.co.uk/movie/lost-in-hong-kong/)
9. [徐峥：票房第一的帽子我戴着累, 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/n/2015/0925/c40606-27632168.html)
10. [亚太日报专访徐峥："囧"遇中年危机, 新华网](https://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-11/13/c_128424302.htm)
11. [Lost in Hong Kong critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-in-hong-kong/critic-reviews/)
12. [《港囧》幕后花絮, 猫眼](https://m.maoyan.com/apollo/movie/246577/extras/highlights)
13. [电影《港囧》：喜剧的外壳思考的内心, 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/n/2015/0929/c40606-27644850.html)
14. [《囧妈》开机：徐峥身兼四职, 澎湃新闻](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_3060121)
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