Hong Kong

Review: “Little Red Sweet” is a Tender Ode to Hong Kong’s Vanishing Culinary Heritage

Starring Stephy Tang, “Little Red Sweet” is the latest Hong Kong film to reminisce about heritage—this time culinary—slipping away.

By Richard Yu, 17 Aug 25 19:00 GMT

Hong Kong punches well above its weight in the cinematic world. From classic kung fu films and undercover police thrillers to Wong Kar-wai’s evocative masterpieces, the city consistently produces exceptional cinematic talent.

Among the latest generation of actors, Stephy Tang has emerged as a quintessential on-screen embodiment of the people who call Hong Kong home. Whether in films like My Prince Edward , where she portrays a young woman struggling to define her own independent life, or Table for Six, which plays with familiar Hong Kong family dynamics through the lens of romantic comedy, Tang has become a key representative of what a “Hongkonger’s” life is over the past decade.

Her latest film, Little Red Sweet, sees Tang playing May, a flight attendant who sacrifices her career to run the family’s cherished dessert shop following her mother’s death. The film revisits familiar Hong Kong family tropes while offering a poignant commentary on the city’s fading culinary heritage amid demographic shifts and relentless redevelopment.

A Nostalgic Portrait of Family and Duty

The film’s opening scenes will evoke nostalgia for many Hongkongers: May and her friends sprinting to a rooftop to watch planes landing at Kai Tak Airport, sparking her dream of becoming a flight attendant. It rapidly shifts to the present, where May shares a cramped flat with her family. We meet her younger brother Kai-cheong, an irresponsible university student; her devoted mother Sau-Lin; and her grumpy father Cheung Hing, proprietor of the eponymous Cheung Hing Kee dessert shop.

Unfortunately, May’s aviation career abruptly ends due to her mother’s fatal stroke. Confronted with her brother’s indifference and her father’s struggle to maintain the shop, May quits her job to help out at home. May and her traditionally-minded father initially clash over what role she should have in the family business as a daughter rather than a son. However, , but they manage to work out their differences, and May learns how to make their family’s famous red bean soup to keep their long-standing restaurant running. Beyond her May fights hard to keep the restaurant open despite her father’s conservative attitudes though, May also has to contend with and the government’s redevelopment plans in the shop’s vicinityfor the area. 

Preserving Culinary Memories in a Changing City

Little Red Sweet touches on a sensitive topic for many Hongkongers: the loss of restaurants that serve as a bedrock of the city’s identity. In the past decade, many iconic restaurants have closed in the city— — whether the tourist-favourite Jumbo Floating Restaurant, more local shops that have been neighbourhood cornerstones like Happy Cake Shop or Lin Heung Tea House, or even Liberty Exchange where for over a decade high-flying financiers have gathered for a drink after work. 

While some might argue that Hong Kong is overly attached to its past, its heritage loss nonetheless represents an erosion of the city’s soul. Beyond eateries, Hongkongers also often lament the loss of heritage architecture. One only needs to visit the comments on Instagram accounts like “oldhkincolour” to see how many people are angry that the city has lost much of its historical flavour. 

As Hong Kong’s population ages and the city undergoes more redevelopment, we can only expect more of the city’s heritage to be lost. One can only hope that there are more second-generation business owners like May who fight to keep the old memories of Hong Kong alive — or in her words, “preserving people’s memories with our flavours.” 

Little Red Sweet isn’t without its flaws, including a distracting romance arc, but anyone who has called Hong Kong home, or simply loves the city, would resonate deeply with the film and its exploration of what it takes to preserve Hong Kong’s heritage. 

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Little Red Sweet (Chinese: 紅豆)—Hong Kong. Dialog in Cantonese. Directed by Vincent Chow. Running time 1hr 30min. First released October 2, 2024 at the London East Asian Film Festival. Starring Simon Yam, Stephy Tang, Jeffrey Ngai.