‘Behind The Shadows’ review: Louis Koo plays a hardbitten PI in Kuala Lumpur-set detective thriller

Dirs: Jonathan Li, Chou Man-yu. Hong Kong/Malaysia. 2025. 103mins.

A shady personal investigator (Louis Koo) agrees to search out proof {that a} shopper’s girlfriend is an adulterer, solely to be flummoxed by the invention of his personal spouse’s philandering. A wedding drama dressed up as a detective thriller, Behind The Shadows by no means suggestions all the best way into hard-boiled territory, however immerses itself deeply sufficient in style conference to have enjoyable with its central homicide thriller. A number of narrative curveballs and an efficient exploitation of Kuala Lumpur’s darkish corners and muggy areas – palpably captured by cinematographer Tam Wai-kai – end in an attractive diversion.

Koo virtually single-handedly makes the movie work

In equity, co-directors Jonathan Li and Chou Man-yu will not be that within the homicide thriller; we get an thought of who the killer is early on. Reteaming after 2023’s gritty Mud To Mud, equally a criminal offense thriller on the floor however a drama about an antagonistic bond beneath, Li and Chou are extra involved with the betrayals, miscommunication, secrets and techniques and lies that may inhabit relationships.

That is the primary Malaysian manufacturing from Hong Kong actor-mogul Louis Koo’s One Cool Group, which has been an lively supporter of younger filmmakers (reminiscent of Lawrence Kan’s In Broad Daylight) and broadening business horizons (as with Ng Yuen-fai’s science-fiction epic Warriors Of Future). The movie, which rolls out throughout Hong Kong and Malaysia from June 13, has taken a modest $8.8m on the Chinese language field workplace since opening there on Might 31, however the presence of Koo, along with its pan-Asian solid, semi-anonymous location and acessible storytelling pitched to regional audiences, may see it carry out strongly throughout southeast Asia. It must also do effectively on streaming platforms.

Au Yeung Wai-yip (Koo) is a Hong Kong PI residing in Kuala Lumpur together with his Malaysian spouse Kuan Weng Sam (Chrissie Chau). The couple clearly have points after a number of years of marriage – Au is feeling unfulfilled and Kuan needs to start out a household. One notably profitable day at his smoke-filled company, Au takes on three shoppers. The primary is a younger man whose fiancée has vanished – a lady who might or might not be the identical one seen murdered within the movie’s prologue. The second is Clowy (Raymond Wong), a mid-level gangster who has been charged with determining simply how untrue his boss’s moll Betty (Renci Yeung) has been.

Final is a mean businessman who needs info on his dishonest girlfriend, a lady who seems to be Au’s personal spouse, Kuan. The story kicks into a good increased gear when Au stumbles on a second homicide, and finds himself within the crosshairs of murder detective Chen Heong Males (Taiwanese actor Liu Kuan-ting).

Co-director Chou has cited the likes of Raymond Chandler as an affect and, certainly, Behind The Shadows begins to blossom right into a wrong-man thriller earlier than recentring its deal with the characters’ mindsets and motivations. Au and Kuan’s damaged marriage is the pivot for the PI’s different shoppers, and Chen’s lingering guilt over a automobile accident that put his spouse in a coma.

The threads come collectively finally, if a bit loosely and with some sketchy psychology, however Koo virtually single-handedly makes the movie work. In a flip towards his normal, coolly indifferent kind, Koo cycles Au via dismay, rage, sorrow and acceptance in simply the proper doses. Chau, who continues to be higher identified for her leng mo pseudo-modelling profession than her legitimately compelling performances in Kearen Pang’s 29+1 or Emily Chow’s Madalena, is underused, and Liu’s haunted cop has been blessed with a lot much less color than Au. Rounding out the multi-market solid, and giving the movie some welcome texture, are Chinese language actor Cai Xiangyu, Malaysia’s Yumi Wong and Kwan Tak-fai, and Eddie Cheung, one other Hong Kong veteran who performs Feeble, Au’s sometimes useful rival PI.

Behind The Shadows in the end doesn’t have the braveness of its style convictions vis à vis Kuan’s actions – or inaction. It redeems the character morally, making the movie a better promote in APAC, however nonetheless manages an ambiguous closing shot that’s good for a pulp detective yarn.