User Reviews

Mobile phone technology kills relationships. That seems the the takeaway message of this movie. Interesting. But done in a slightly histrionic manner. Watchable but....

This is the fourth version of the Italian hit Perfect Strangers that I've seen, and while it's the one that offers up the most originality and deviation from the original film, it's also the weakest telling of the same story. In that, while Kill Mobile has its moments, and is certainly an entertaining watch at times, it's a film that often overextends itself in trying to compensate for its various changes to the original script, an attempt at bolder originality that unfortunately falls flat.

Let's start off with the story, which is, at its core, pretty much the same as the Italian original. It's still seven friends in pretty much identical roles coming together for a dinner party that goes wrong when secrets and more are spilled from everyone's phones.

That story, as proved by Perfect Strangers, as well as its Spanish and French remakes, is brilliant no matter what guise you put it in, and so proves the case once again, with the key beats of the ups and downs of a turbulent dinner party still proving thoroughly entertaining and exciting (which is remarkable given that I've been through the same story four times now).

However, unlike the Spanish and French versions, this Chinese version of Perfect Strangers tries a little harder to be different to the original. As I said, it's still the same movie at the core, but with a variety of changes to the script for cultural reasons, as well as a different thematic focus, it offers up a slightly new angle to look at the same story.

In that, the film's main focus is on how we are so overly reliant on our phones nowadays, and while that's undoubtedly present in all of the other versions of the story, it's an especially poignant one in this case, linking in with how heavily modern Chinese society is invested in the digital world - far more so than its European counterparts - and the worrying consequences that can occur when things reach an extreme.

I will say that the film is a little heavy-handed in that approach. Along with the core story, it also offers up a few extra little vignettes that tie into the main plot as well as further that main theme, but they just don't feel like an organic addition to the film's main discourse, something that's achieved far more effectively when you spend the entire duration with the same characters in the same room.

Another issue with some of the film's discrepancies from the original come in its relative lack of emotional depth. While it's an entertaining watch, with some enjoyable performances and good humour throughout, this is the first time that I've watched this story unfold without ever really feeling it all hit home.

While the Italian original is a lot of fun, much of its drama and thrills comes from the emotional depth that's built up over the course of the film, as the characters' inhibitions are stripped away and left to bear all of their raw emotions, culminating in a thrillingly uncomfortable watch, which is ultimately what makes the premise work so well over the course of an enthralling and deeply awkward dinner party.

Kill Mobile, on the other hand, doesn't offer up the same emotional depth. That's in part due to its heavier focus on the mobile phone theme, but also due to the fact that some of the key elements of the original Italian script just aren't translatable this time round, whether it's because they just don't apply quite as perfectly to China, or are still regarded as taboo, something which I found a real shame.

With all that said, this film is still an enjoyable watch, and the seven leads all give energetic and engrossing performances that play brilliantly off one another, as is the case in all of the film's other versions. (Meanwhile, my prize for stand-out actor for this version of Perfect Strangers goes to Ma Li, who gives one of the best performances for her role out of all the Perfect Strangers movies, even though it's a little different to the rest).

Overall, then, I had fun with Kill Mobile. It's an interesting adaptation of Perfect Strangers that still retains the core entertainment factor of the brilliant story, all the while offering up a different perspective on the same premise, even if it occasionally falls flat when it tries to deviate from the course of the original.

No one could understand the story without knowledge of the Italian original film.

Needless to say that I had not heard about this 2018 Chinese drama from writers Xiao Li, Huan Wang and Si Wang prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2023. And with it being an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen, and with my fascination and love of the Asian cinema, of course I had to sit down and watch it.

The storyline in "Lai Dian Kuang Xiang" (aka "Kill Mobile") was cringeworthy to say the least. Sure, the aspect of mobile phones killing off intimacy and causing distancing between individuals in relationships of various kinds is something that is relevant, because it is the truth. Then I have to say that the contents of this movie was just difficult to sit through. There was something awkward looming over the entire movie, and it was not an enjoyable script or storyline to sit through.

So I have to say that writers Xiao Li, Huan Wang and Si Wang failed to deliver something wholesome and worthwhile here with "Lai Dian Kuang Xiang".

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, nor can I claim that I was impressed with what I witnessed on the screen. Now, the actors and actresses were not to blame for this, because their performances were adequate, but it was solely because of the contents of the script, the character gallery and the dialogue. It was all just cringeworthy, devoid of anything that appealed to me and just felt one-dimensional and bloated.

"Lai Dian Kuang Xiang", from director Miao Yu, is not a movie that I will recommend for fans of the Asian cinema to rush out and get to watch. It wasn't entertained by it, and it is definitely not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.

My rating of "Lai Dian Kuang Xiang" lands on a two out of ten stars.

Went into this with very low expectations, but was actually very surprised. The plot setup is very nicely done and realistically brought about various scenarios for each character that'll have you at both extremes of laughter and sadness. The overall theme also hits close to home for many people that may have participated in misunderstandings with the always on cellphone culture of today