Routine Holiday

A father takes his son to observe an empty field, and then to visit a neighbour, who is soon visited by other reticent characters, including a man who is a little violent, and another next-door neighbour who has fallen ill. Between haunting periods of silence reminiscent of Beckett’s existential plays, the characters discuss why they are alive. Then one of them decides to slap the other in the face. The little boy, however, is less interested in the forlorn adults around him than in the strange contents of his bucket. Poet and novelist Li Hongqi’s new movie takes a voyeuristic and melancholy glimpse into the suburban lives of his characters to cast light on a quiet thread of restlessness that connects us all. —filmfest.org.sg