There is a daffy streak of eccentricity in this rambling shaggy dog tale from Hong Kong. It’s the story of a stray mutt called Piggy (played by mongrel Little) who saves a man from suicide not once, but twice. The man is newly retired Kai (Lawrence Cheng), a miserable grump who lives alone. Like Larry David, he’s not afraid of telling people exactly what he thinks (and, like Larry David, it can be excruciating to watch). But Piggy has taken a shine to Kai, and when she spots him attempting to hang himself in the woods, she intervenes, superdoggy style.
In all sorts of ways, Alone No More is a conventional heart-tugger, pushing its sentimental message about the benefits to mind and body of pet ownership, and making a point about social isolation among older people. Predictably, Kai adopts Piggy, and his irascible outbursts begin to look less and less like the precursors to a heart attack. Pretty soon he’s even mucking in at a local dog rescue charity run by Una (Amy Lo), a woman in her 20s. Una avoids her mother, but she indulges Kai’s grumpiness; his own daughter Zoie (Fish Liew) can barely stand to be in a room with him.
The film feels honest about how we can get trapped in family dynamics, and these insights spool out alongside a mad plotline about a dog killer sneaking about town laying spam laced with poison. There are also more heroics from Piggy, rescuing Kai once again from the brink (second time around, she saves him with a look of love in her eye rather than brute force). A word of warning: gird yourself for sad news about Little in the end credits.
• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
• Alone No More is in UK cinemas from 17 January.
