When I was a student in Japan many moons ago, vending machines selling used schoolgirl panties were a thing. They’ve since gone the way of the dinosaur thanks to recent legislation criminalizing the purchase of used underwear from minors but that’s not to say that the industry has disappeared. It just moved online. I don’t know if selling used panties online is a thing in Hong Kong but after watching BLOSSOM UNDER SOMEWHERE, I now suspect it is.

Ching (Cantopop singer Marf Yau/邱彥筒) is a student at a Catholic high school for girls who runs a used panty business out of her mother’s upscale flat. She has never had a boyfriend and she feels isolated due to her stutter, and selling her underwear gives her the connection to others that she’s longing for. When one of her clients, a handsome university professor, takes an interest in her, she becomes infatuated with him, going as far as thinking that she is in love with him. Her behaviour sets her at odds with her best friend, Rachel (Sheena Chan/陳書昕), who also sells her panties online but has a more mature approach to her business than Ching does. Fortunately, Ching’s regular courier guy, Lam (Shin Cheung/張毓軒), is there to offer her some good advice.

As I was watching BLOSSOM UNDER SOMEWHERE, I was torn between being disgusted by Ching’s behaviour and feeling sorry for her. This kid is clearly in need of some moral guidance, which no doubt is related to her mother’s long absences from home. The reality, though, is that many Hong Kong parents leave their kids to their own devices, focusing instead on their careers or whatever. It’s never clear what Ching’s mother is up to; we just know that she’s not around as Ching is left to puttering around the flat by herself and looking after her pet turtle. As for Ching’s father, he’s not even mentioned. But this is a city where “compensated dating” is also a thing so I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that high school girls are selling their undergarments for extra cash.

Interestingly though, co-writer and director Riley Yip/葉鈺瀛 takes a neutral position with Ching and Rachel’s business endeavours. The story isn’t about judging whether what they’re doing is right or wrong. It’s about a young woman who struggles with the complexities of love and making connections with others. It’s brave of Yip to take this approach, especially as this is her first feature film, but it seems to have paid off as BLOSSOM UNDER SOMEWHERE was selected as the winning project in the First Feature Film Initiative for the Higher Education Institution Group, and received a production grant of HK$5 million (approx. US$650,000) from the Hong Kong Film Development Council.

Both Yau and Chan, who are in the 20s, are believable as the misguided schoolgirls, which is a testament to Yip’s writing and direction. Neither actress has extensive experience in front of the camera though both appeared in the popular Hong Kong TV drama series LEFT ON READ/那年盛夏我們綻放如花 last year. Yau is also the singer on the film’s theme song, “Lak Kak” (㪐㩿), which is Cantonese slang for “stuttering.”

BLOSSOM UNDER SOMEWHERE opens in Hong Kong on Thursday (November 21st). You might take issue with what Ching and Rachel are up to but it’s an interesting and well-presented story about a young woman who is learning about herself.

Thanks for reading but don’t be a lurker! If you liked what you just read, here are some suggestions:

Sign up to receive my movie reviews in your inbox automatically
Share this review on your Facebook page
Leave me a message telling me what you thought of my review or the film
Bookmark the site and visit often
Like my Howard For Film Facebook page
Watch my reviews on my YouTube page
Check out my Howard For Film magazine on Flipboard
Tell your friends about the site