Movie:
A Guilty Conscience
Did you recently watch the Hong Kong Film Awards on TV? If you didn’t, a plethora of awards were given to many different movies in diverse genres. The most prized award “Best Movie” went to A Guilty Conscience. But does this award-winning film deserve this accolade?
A Guilty Conscience is a legal drama film that follows the main protagonist Adrian Lam, a former barrister-turned-magistrate, who is trying to correct a mistake he made 2 years ago in a child abuse trial: his failure to assist Jolene Tsang who stood accused of murdering her child.
Realizing his mistake in being unable to be serious about becoming a good lawyer, he starts over by starting a law firm and trying to slowly redeem himself.
With his partner, Prince, a legal executive, and his friend’s barrister, Evelyn Fong, they work together to find the truth of the child abuse case, find the true murderer, and help repay Jolene for being wrongfully imprisoned for 2 years.
This film is simply a masterpiece. From plot to character development, it is very well-paced and allows the audience time to digest what exactly is going on. While the plot is simple, it is written spectacularly with intriguing elements. Starting off with an introduction to the main character, Adrian Lam, and providing the audience with his background, it then delves into the story before ending in an emotionally-intense courtroom scene.
One of the aspects I must show my deepest appreciation for is the character development, it is one of if not the best part of the film. Seeing how Dayo Wong as Adrian Lam slacked off during his job before realizing that he messed up and allowed an innocent woman to be imprisoned, he felt as if he lost everything and wanted to turn over a new leaf. To redeem himself, he started his own small law firm to regain the original ideals that led him to study law in the first place. Wong really conveys Lam’s raw emotions convincingly throughout. I felt he was at his lowest point when a gang of debt collectors beat him up, and I could genuinely believe his remorse and his drive to clear his name by starting a new life of being a committed lawyer with a group of supportive friends and colleagues.
Overall, this film is awesome! So many intricate details went into making it. Every scene genuinely felt so real, depicting the legal world in Hong Kong and how one rich man could corrupt a situation. The actors chosen for this film were spot-on, despite some being new to the industry. This is a movie that I highly recommend to everyone to watch, no matter the age, because this remarkable film allows us an ultimately uplifting insight into the realities of law cases around the world.
