Midnight Diner (2019)

Food is communal, binding us to one another in ways we can understand metaphysically, even if not tangibly. In a way, this is the crux of Midnight Diner, the directorial debut from actor Tony Leung Ka-fai (Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch). It’s the latest cinematic adaptation of the manga Shin’ya shokudô, by creator Yarō Abe, whose stories revolve around the customers who come in and out of the small late-night eatery.

Tucked away in Shanghai is a small diner, open from midnight into the early morning. There, the quiet chef, known as Master (Tony Leung Ka-fai), serves whatever his customers wish. Sometimes the customers are regulars, sometimes they are first-timers, and sometimes they are regulars who are returning after a long time away. The one thing they each have in common is that they bring along their own story of the food which sustains them.