High K (2000)

When a car crash takes away her mother, schoolgirl wildchild Coco (Sherming Yiu) is placed in the hands of her father, cop Zeng (Ti Lung). He'd walked out on the family when Coco was six. And now the daughter's not about to start listening to him or his new partner Jenny (Christine Eng).

Ignoring Zeng's scolding and attempts at fatherhood, Coco and pals Bondy and Moondy crash out on pills, raves, brawls and triad boy flings. A bar fight later and her stash uncovered, Coco chucks in the schoolbag and skips home. Zeng takes some quick tips on parenting from Jenny, quits the force and tries to find his daughter and pull her back to safer ground. His timing turns out opportune as Coco, Bondy and Moondy get caught up in their gangster boyfriends' lifestyles and affairs...

Occasional stylish flashes and some acting effort help place High K above the troubled kids genre expectations. Sherming Yiu plays the lead with her usual enthusiasm, and here she pulls off the schoolgirl bit reasonably well, donning her trusty pink platform sneakers for additional street cred in a role not far removed from The Boss Up There-style sensationalism. Ti Lung also manages to strengthen his role in able support. Director Billy Chung shows less visual flair here than in his past two movies Killer and Last Ghost Standing. And with High K the emphasis is more on a parent-child relationship drama than on adhering to the troubled teen and triad themes.

High K painted billboard in the Sunbeam Theatre's lobby

Credits:

Directed by Billy Chung
Cinematographer: Daniel Chan
Associate Producer: Sherming Yiu Lok-yi
Starring Sherming Yiu Lok-yi, Ti Lung, Christine Eng, Lok Man, Gloria Lam and Ng Chi-hung