Hot Summer Days

It is the hottest summer on record. A chauffeur and a foot masseuse romance through text messages, unaware of each other's identities. An innocent factory girl asks her admirer to stand outside in the heat for 100 days to prove his love. A sushi chef prepares the perfect meal so that the food critic he loves will stay with him forever. A blinded photographer must locate the beautiful model he insulted. An old man desperately searches for an antique light bulb for the shrine of his late wife. And each night, an air conditioner repairman challenges a mystery girl to a road race. When a blackout spreads across the city, the city turns to chaos. Can love shine through?

“Do they have date movies in China? Probably, and “Hot Summer Days,” an enjoyable concoction of loosely intertwined stories of love and obsession, is just right for that purpose. The film, by Tony Chan and Wing Shya, is intricate without being taxing and does just what you want a date movie to do: generate high hopes about the exhilarating, sometimes painful adventure that is love.” (Neil Genzlinger, New York Times)