Leaving In Sorrow is a gritty, realistic portrayal of Hong Kong in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis. It is the first Hong Kong production filmed in the "Dogme 95" style, using hand-held cameras, natural lighting, and real locations. The film follows a disparate group of characters--including a pastor, a magazine editor, and a slacker from San Francisco--who find their lives suddenly turned upside down by events beyond their control.
Shan, a Hong Kong cosmetologist, learnt about the art of solitude during the lockdown period of pandemic. As the regulation of prohibition on group gathering was imposed in April 2020, Shan had to close down her small business and build a new daily routine.
17-year-old Eric follows his parents to immigrate to Canada and is thus forced to confront different emotional and cultural problems. He must not only adjust to the new environment, but also come to terms with his homosexuality. Standing at the brink of adulthood, he encounters a series of potential romantic interests - his handsome cousin, a schoolmate, a middle aged lawyer and finally a kitchen helper. They represent different stages in Eric's development, from infatuation, sex, love to a sense of responsibility.
Film director James produced a short film under the pandemic. He invited his good friend Man as his main cast. After the completion of the short film, Man was suddenly arrested and put behind bar. James was worrying about if Man could adapt the life in prison. James planned to write letters to Man. When he started to write, James is feeling helpless that he found his daily life during the pandemic might somehow similar to what Man was confronting.
James and Kevin are friends and live in Hong-Kong. When Kevin finds out that his Chinese father wants to send him away to England to study, he decides to spend a summer day with his friend James. Then something unexpected happens.
A morgue assistant witnesses gut-wrenching autopsies and mutilated corpses on a daily basis. But strangest of all is the behaviour of his oddball colleagues. In another part of town, a professional killer views his job with grave misgiving. This tormented soul begins to act in an increasingly erratic manner much to the consternation of his triad bosses. The third character is a cook who works in a prison. His job is to cook for inmates on death row, and to record their dying wishes. This unholy trio finds out in different ways that the most beautiful moments of life are often those closest to death.
Hong Kong-born Toronto resident Jenny (Jennifer Chan) is unnerved to the point of sleeplessness by the sudden disappearance of her fiancée Charles (Wayne Kwok). After overhearing a conversation, she enters Dreamtrips, a computer service that allows customers to travel into their own dream worlds. With the initial help of a guide, she wanders though empty cityscapes until she eventually happens upon her beau. Due to a systems crash, Jenny is abandoned in this virtual world which she does not know how to navigate.
Quentin Lee returns to Hong Kong, where he was born and raised. As he explores his desire to move back there from Los Angeles, he interviews local artists, filmmakers, friends, and family about why they are in Hong Kong and why they choose to be there.
Ka, a common housewife, leaves her husband after big change in the family. Then she encounters Man, who has for years blamed her father Chow for bringing to light his relationship with his lover Tracy after the accidental death of Man’s mother. And so it seems that from departures stems relationships anew, but there are in fact little to be explained in the logic of cause-and-effect for existence, death, encounters, and love.
Since 2017, the cognitive ability of Yin's grandma began to deteriorate. Since then, Yin has become one of the caregivers in her family, taking care of her granny's diet, health and emotion. Before the epidemic, every summer, granny would return to her hometown in Xiamen in the mainland China to gather with her sons and other relatives there. During granny's visit to her hometown, Yin would take this opportunity to get some rest and do her own business. However, after the outbreak, Yin's granny has not returned to Xiamen for more than two years. Now she stays at home almost every day. Her cognitive decline seems to become more serious, and she is more eager to keep her family members close to her, especially Yin.
In the era of the coronavirus, Genius was left behind on the street by his girlfriend and his mother passed away soon. Genius worked in an antique shop. His boss asked him to get rid of a box of feng shui stuff as far away as possible. However, he barely could find a rubbish bin. When he found one, the rubbish bin was too full and he decided to just left it there. Unfortunately, an officer ask him to pick it back up. He went everywhere to seek a rubbish bin but never succeed.
