The Road to Mandalay

Two Burmese 20-somethings discover the grass isn't that much greener when they are smuggled into Thailand to find work, in this fascinating drama from Taiwanese director Midi Z. Lianqing (Ke-Xi Wu) is keen to better herself, but a lack of proper ID leads only to a dishwashing job in a Bangkok restaurant while laid-back but protective Guo (Kai Ko), who's taken a shine to her, is content to labour in a textile factory where Lianqing soon follows. Their sweetly tentative romance acts as a refreshing contrast to an agonising reality - long hours, shabby digs, constant pay-offs - that sees Lianqing's desire to acquire legal papers frustrated by police bribery and greedy, unscrupulous officials, with drugs and the sex trade looming as fallback options. Midi Z's fourth film reflects on the global theme of migration but his languid, unsensational style (except for one extraordinary hotel encounter) means the plight and relationship of Guo and Lianqing stay at the heart of an all-too familiar story for our times where love cannot always conquer all.