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The Hong Kong films released in 2025 ranked from worst to best
It was a rough year for Hong Kong cinema – only Another World made more than HK$14 million locally – but there were still some gems released
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There were, ultimately, no miracles for Hong Kong cinema in 2025.
It was a regrettable year that began with reports of further cinema closures and ended in collective mourning after the Tai Po fire tragedy, which in turn pushed back the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash (now renamed Avatar 3) – previously earmarked as a saviour for cinema operators this Christmas.
The forecast downturn in film investment has been keenly felt; even several “urban myth” titles – the label jokingly given to high-profile projects wrapped years ago but left indefinitely, and often inexplicably, on the shelf – were summoned to fill the increasingly sparse slate.
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While long-time followers of Hong Kong film were relieved to finally witness such fabled productions as Remember What I Forgot, Atonement, Sons of the Neon Night and Golden Boy on the big screen, the general public’s enthusiasm for local narratives appears to have cooled.
No releases in 2025 came remotely close to matching the record-breaking runs of A Guilty Conscience, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In and The Last Dance in the previous two years, all three of which surpassed the HK$100 million (US$12 million) mark.
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Indeed, this year’s numbers make for grim reading: fewer than 40 Hong Kong films opened in cinemas domestically, and the highest-grossing title, the animation Another World, was the only film to take in over HK$14 million at the local box office.
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