Review | ‎The Dumpling Queen movie review: Andrew Lau depicts founding of a Hong Kong food brand

Andrew Lau’s rags-to-riches biopic streamlines and rather sugarcoats the story of the Wanchai Ferry brand’s Zang Jianhe, played by Ma Li

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Ma Li as businesswoman Zang Jianhe in a still from ‎The Dumpling Queen (category IIB; Cantonese, Mandarin) directed by Andrew Lau. Kara Wai and Ben Yuen co-star. Photo: Handout

Published: 5:45pm, 1 May 2025

2.5/5 stars

The inspiring true story behind the founding of an iconic Hong Kong food brand receives a largely uninspired retelling in The Dumpling Queen, a glossy if unabashedly melodramatic and run-of-the-mill biopic set primarily in the city in the late 1970s and 80s.

The film represents a rare return to Hong Kong-centric stories for veteran filmmaker Andrew Lau Wai-keung, the Infernal Affairs co-director who has spent much of the past decade making so-called “main melody” movies in mainland China, from The Founding of an Army (2017) to The Captain (2019) and Chinese Doctors (2021).

The Dumpling Queen tells the rags-to-riches story of Wanchai Ferry founder Zang Jianhe (or Chong Kin-wo), played by Chinese comic actress Ma Li without even a hint of humour.

It begins in 1977 in Qingdao, Shandong province, where the mother of two young daughters bids farewell to her own mother and sister before travelling to Hong Kong to meet her husband (Kenny Wong Tak-bun) after four years apart.

However, upon arriving at the border railway station, Lo Wu, she learns that, under the influence of his wicked mother (Nina Paw Hee-ching), he has left her and married another woman, who has borne him a son in Thailand. Zang soon decides to leave him for good.

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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Andrew Lau’s rags-to-riches biopic streamlines and rather sugarcoats the story of the Wanchai Ferry brand’s Zang Jianhe, played by Ma Li

Andrew Lau’s rags-to-riches biopic streamlines and rather sugarcoats the story of the Wanchai Ferry brand’s Zang Jianhe, played by Ma Li