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WE 12: MIRROR in Movies

Written by YumCha! Editorial Team Tell a Friend

Sensational Hong Kong boy band MIRROR has been all over the Hong Kong entertainment industry in recent years, and not just in music. The group members are also making their marks in Hong Kong cinema from solo film appearances to their recent full-lineup group movie WE 12. Let's revisit all of MIRROR's movie appearances since 2018!

WE 12 (2024)

MIRROR members assemble in WE 12, the group's first movie with all 12 members in the cast! Produced by Makerville, the heist comedy follows MIRROR as the members of the underground "n Association." Each with their distinctive skills, the Kaitos gather at headquarters to receive a mission from the boss – steal the award-winning "multiverse zapper" to prevent it from destroying the ecosystem. Teamwork makes the dream work, but after going solo for years, the members need to rekindle their team spirit and get it together. Don't dwell on the plot holes – WE 12 works perfectly as fan-service content with fair screen time for every member, plus inside jokes that would get MIROs laughing!

THE MOON THIEVES (2024)

Three MIRROR members are part of the 2024 heist action film The Moon Thieves directed by Steve Yuen. Set in the world of black market antique watches, the kinetic film stars Edan Lui as counterfeiter Vincent who specializes in constructing frankenwatches with different parts and passing them off as originals. Cold-blooded underworld dealer Uncle (Keung To in unexpected crime boss mode) coerces Vincent into joining his high-stakes scheme to steal three Picasso watches from a vault in Japan. The heist crew includes Louis Cheung as the leader, Michael Ning as the explosives specialist, and Anson Lo as the rookie lockpicker. There are also bones to pick within the crew, and tensions spill over when things goes haywire. The Moon Thieves entertains with a timeless heist caper setup, from rounding up the gang and laying the trap to executing the steal and dealing with the inevitable twists and reveals.

BACK HOME (2023)

Anson Kong sees ghosts in Nate Ki's Back Home, which is part of mm2's "New Director Project Trilogy." Home is where the jump scares are in this eerie horror starring AK as a man with sixth sense who has spent his life trying to look the other way. He is forced to return to Hong Kong due to the hospitalization of his mother, played by award-winning actress Bai Ling. When he's back home in his creepy old apartment building, the ghosts are also back, along with visions and whispers of strange happenings. Something is dreadfully amiss in the building, but only he can see.

MY HEAVENLY CITY (2023)

New York-based Taiwanese director Yu Sen-I's My Heavenly City intertwines three stories in the city of dreams. Keung To headlines the second chapter, which is a straightforward youth romance about two college students navigating love and dreams. Keung To plays college student and street dance enthusiast Jack who hits it off with Singapore exchange student Lulu, portrayed by Jessica Lee. Bonding over their interest in dancing, the two progress naturally from meet-cute to romance, but their time together may be short-lived since Lulu has to return home. Keung To speaks Mandarin for the entire film, and he gets to show some dance moves.

MAD FATE (2023)

MIRROR leader Lokman Yeung delivers a formidable performance as a sociopath in Soi Cheang's acclaimed 2023 psychological crime thriller Mad Fate. Holding his own opposite award-winning actor Gordon Lam, Lokman is impressively unsettling playing the challenging character of an aggressive, troubled young man who wants to kill. Triggered by the grisly exploits of a serial killer, he struggles to defy his violent fate with the help of Lam's mad fortune teller, but the desire for blood keeps growing.

OVER MY DEAD BODY (2023)

Hong Kong Film Awards Best New Director winner Tin Ho follows his acclaimed debut film The Sparring Partner with the black comedy Over My Dead Body. When a man drops dead naked outside their door, one bickering Hong Kong family does some quick thinking and makes the logical conclusion: let's move the body down the hallway to another door. No one wants a death in the building as that would affect property value, so the various neighbors panic, shirk and feud before trying to work together to get rid of the body without being noticed. Among the quirky residents of the ensemble comedy is Edan Lui as a soccer player who has a bad relationship with his father, played by Ronald Cheng.

CHILLI LAUGH STORY (2022)

Are you up for some chilli laughs? First-time writer-director Coba Cheng brings his true family story of starting a chilli garlic sauce business during the pandemic to the silver screen. Collaborating with seasoned actors Ronald Cheng, Gigi Leung and Sandra Ng, Edan Lui makes his film debut as a music festival worker who gets in squabbles with his family all day while working from home. Learning that his mom's handmade chilli garlic sauce is popular with his friends, he sees a golden business opportunity to sell the sauce online. The overwhelming demand brings in not only hot money but also spicy arguments as the family is trapped in the kitchen chopping chillis and making sauce together in this silly yet relatable comedy. Edan was nominated for Best New Performer at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance.

HONG KONG FAMILY (2022)

Edan Lui is part of another realistically dysfunctional Hong Kong Family in Eric Tsang Hing Weng's directorial debut which also earned him a Best New Performer nomination at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards. Unlike Chilli Laugh Story, however, Hong Kong Family takes on a more serious tone. Edan plays a young game designer who stopped speaking to his father (Tse Kwan Ho) after a moment of violence during a winter solstice dinner. The falling out weighs heavily on the strained family. Years later, a loss in the family forces everyone back together for a reunion dinner. Anson Lo also appears in the film as Edan's supportive friend and colleague.

MAMA'S AFFAIR (2022)

Keung To and Jer Lau are rivals in unexpected ways in Mama's Affair directed by Kearen Pang. Teresa Mo is the "mama" Yu Mei Fung, a talent manager navigating midlife crisis and family discord as she returns to the workplace after a long career break. Her new discovery is Keung To as Fong Ching, a delivery boy with some slick dance moves. Spotting his potential, she pours her energy into supporting Fong Ching's rise to stardom. In the process, she alienates her son Jonathan, played by Jer. Don't miss Fong Ching and Jonathan's hilarious showdown in a field! With Keung To playing a singer, the film soundtrack comes complete with solo and duet songs performed by Keung To. Jer also gets his own Jonathan's Soliloquy.

SHOWBIZ SPY (2021)

Anson Lo goes undercover in an audition program to save teenagers from being scammed by shady entertainment agencies in the 2021 comedy Showbiz Spy. In his big-screen debut, Anson Lo takes the leading role of Cercis Lui, who goes undercover into the entertainment industry to protect young people from being exploited. Stunning with his gender-bending style, he forms a girl group with Chloe So, Summer Chan, Heidi Lee and Alina Lee to enter an audition program and gather evidence. While uncovering the dark sides of showbiz culture and the trainee system, they also touch hearts with the pure dream-chasing journey of aspiring young stars.

IT REMAINS (2023)

Following Showbiz Spy, Anson Lo takes his second film leading role in the decidedly different It Remains, an atmospheric supernatural thriller from director Kelvin Shum. Haunting with ghastly visions and ghosts of the mind, the underrated film begins with the classic horror movie premise of a group of friends going camping on a remote island. Anson plays a grieving young man who recently lost his girlfriend. On the foggy island, he encounters mysterious people and nightmarish incidents that point to a chilling presence in the forest – and the demons within.

LOVE SUDDENLY (2022)

Anson Kong made his silver-screen debut in the 2022 romantic comedy Love Suddenly, which was originally slated to release around Valentine's Day, but got pushed back to November due to pandemic lockdown. Directed by Mak Ho Pong and written by Edmond Wong, the lighthearted Hong Kong-style romcom centers around four pairs of couples and almost-lovers who encounter different situations in love. Anson Kong stars as influencer Chung who makes couple videos with his long-term partner Ching (Karena Ng). After years of working and living together, they need a breakthrough for both their online channel and their relationship.

THE WAY WE KEEP DANCING (2020)

In 2013, The Way We Dance became a sleeper hit in Hong Kong by showcasing local street dance culture. Eight years later, the dancers are still keen on letting everyone know how far they are willing to go for their art in The Way We Keep Dancing! Writer-director Adam Wong shifts the focus of the sequel to the hardships KIDA (Kowloon Industrial District Artists) face as they try to live out their dreams as street artists. Lokman Yeung, along with Cherry Ngan and Babyjohn Choi, lead the dance movie that highlights Hong Kong street culture as well as the struggles and challenges local artists encounter every day.

HONG KONG WEST SIDE STORIES SP (2021)

Directed by Stephen Ng, Hong Kong West Side Stories SP is a special episode of the Hong Kong web series based on writer XXharuki's satirical novel Hong Kong West Side Stories. The 12-episode series was released online in 2018 and 2019, and this 45-minute special arrived in 2021 as a Lunar New Year movie. ERROR's Dee Ho plays a small-time triad who goes on the run and ends up taking refuge at a Mong Kok dance hall, the kind frequented by well-off older women seeking company. MIRROR member Tiger Yau plays a dashing dance teacher who is popular with the ladies.

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Published August 27, 2024

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