Only the lack of roses in every frame prevent this teen romance from being a live action Shojo Manga.
Stephen Chow plays a selfish yet in some places kind hearted barrister who tricks his servant in doing things for his own benefit. Eric Kot playing the servant is misguided by what he thinks is love and leaves Chow vowing that he will never need Chow's help again in life. Shortly afterwards Kot gets into some big trouble (due to be executed) with the British and calls on Chow for help. Chow tries to help his client, but is fish out of water when he has to fight this court room case according to western rules.
They are frozen in place, stagnating without any direction. Around them, things change rapidly.
Thin Dream Bay is about a Shanghai émigré in Hong Kong, an intellectual woman who experiences her sexual awakening and identity reconfiguration as someone who occupies the in-between-space between the local, the colonial, and the national.