“All Shall Be Well “is a new lesbian drama from Hong Kong director Ray Yeung that is moving and beautifully made. It opens with a scene from the everyday life of two women, shopping at street markets and then unloading the food at home. We intuit that they might be lovers, especially as they prepare a meal together wordlessly in synch, with the familiarity of a very long-term couple.
We learn about the lives of these women, Angie (Patra Au) and Pat (Lin-Lin Li), who indeed have shared a home and a life for several decades, through scenes of their interactions with Pat’s family and with their “chosen family” of two other female couples. Pat is approaching retirement age with a vision of opening her own business, and both she and Angie share a warm relationship with Pat’s brother and his family. Her brother’s wife refers to Angie as her sister-in-law, and their son and his fiancée call her “Auntie Angie” and are obviously very fond of the women and their relationship.
But before much more occurs, Pat passes away in her sleep, leaving Angie shocked and grieving. And the supportive in-laws she thought would be there for her are taking control of all the assets—including their home. Pat died without a will, and the apartment is in her name only. Angie has no legal claim because they didn’t choose to marry abroad, and she is reduced to the role of “best friend” and loses everything. All she can do now is claim a dependency allowance from the estate. For support, she turns to her lesbian friends, and they help her survive the loss of her dear one and its disastrous aftermath.
Ray Yeung has cleverly used the family drama genre to uncover the truth behind the “acceptance” of queer people. Without carefully planned documentation for our estates, we risk leaving our partners disempowered, even homeless and broke. It is an important film with great writing and acting that will hopefully be seen by a wide international audience.
All Shall be Well won this year’s prestigious Teddy Award for Best Feature at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Review: Janet ProlmanJanet Prolman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where her mother nicknamed her “my little queer.” She has also lived in North Carolina and New York. A lover of short stories, theater, music, and performance, she knows the lyrics to almost every song or advertising jingle she’s ever heard. Now on Cape Cod, she enjoys kayaking and frequenting Provincetown.
