“Tsang brings a perceptive subtlety to the story, creating a whole world inside the parlor and its inhabitants, while letting us discover along with them what lies beyond. Instead of leaning into trauma or misery, the filmmaker gives us complex characters who nonetheless speak very little — everything happens in their expressions, the quick flash of a twitch across a cheek when the other isn’t looking.”
—Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times (Critic’s Pick)

“By its final grace note, one that considers the reality that some wounds aren’t meant to heal, “Blue Sun Palace,” a soulful and passionate meditation on loss, shines as a new gem of slow cinema.”
—Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

Winner of the French Touch prize in the Critics’ Week lineup of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Within the confines of a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, Amy (Wu Ke-Xi) and Didi (Haipeng Xu) navigate romance, happiness, and the obligations of family thousands of miles from home. Despite the physical and emotional toll their work extracts, the women who live at the parlor have fortified an impenetrable sisterhood.

When tragedy strikes on Lunar New Year, Amy is forced to consider her own destiny for the first time ever. Despite finding solace in the company of Cheung (Lee Kang-sheng), Amy must leave the city and prioritize her own spirit in order to survive.

In an unseen part of New York, BLUE SUN PALACE explores the lives of transient souls trying to find a sense of permanence.