A Witness Out of the Blue


A Witness Out of the Blue is a 2019 Hong Kong crime thriller film produced by Derek Yee and written and directed by Andrew Fung. The film stars Louis Koo as a robber who becomes a prime suspect of a new murder case in which the only witness is a talking parrot present during the scene. A Witness Out of the Blue premiered at the Hong Kong [Asian Film Festival] on 18 October 2019 before it was theatrically released on 24 October 2019 in Hong Kong. The film was also shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam from 28 January to 1 February 2020.

Plot

Sean Wong leads an armed robbery at a jewelry shop. Three months later, Wong's partner in crime, Homer Tsui, is found dead inside an apartment and Chief Inspector Yip Sau-ching suspects Wong to be the culprit in the murder of Tsui. The only apparent witness to the murder case is a talking parrot that was present inside the apartment room during the crime scene. Wong sets out to find out the real murderer in order to clear his name and avenge his partner.

Cast

Critical reception

A Witness Out of the Blue received generally positive reviews. Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave the film a score of 3.5/5 stars, praising the performances by Louis Koo and Louis Cheung, and describes the film as director Andrew Fung's best effort to date. Gabriel Chong of Movie Xclusive gave the film a similar score of 3.5/5, praising Koo's commitment to his role and the well-paced mystery from start to end. Andrew Chan of Film [Critics Circle of Australia] gave the film a score of 7.5/10 on his blog, praising the performances by the cast and sums up the film as "an effective crime thriller that lacks a sharpening cutting edge."