Culture and sub-culture, coupled with the legacy of Hong Kong post-UK sovereignty, in a changing UK forms the backbone of multi-hyphenate film-maker Sonnie Lee‘s new indie drama THE DISTANCE WE DRIFT.
Hong Kong immigrant Ying (Yoyo Chan) has moved to London with her husband and young son, adapting to the post-Brexit Britain as best she can whilst also attempting to retain some of her vibrancy from her former life.
Into the mix comes an old flame, Hong (Roger King), himself as far apart from his former life as a photographer-turned-supermarket employee where a thousand word-suggestive image has been reduced to visible silence from the oppressed culture they have left behind.
An impromptu reconnection in passing re-ignites their bond of sorts as their former romance begins to yield old feelings, particularly when Ying takes in a delivery from Hong Kong containing numerous physical memories and a time that seemingly has passed.
Hong comes across an old memoir depicting the life and times of Sun Yat-sen, the father of the old Chinese Republic-cum-revolutionary who whilst in exile held fort in London. It is this that prompts Hong to lead Ying onto a spur-of-the-moment odyssey around London to see what his true memories were.
Before long however, old passions and reflections start to take hold for the pair, who are determined to find some validation in their new cultural shock….
At a time when racial tensions and reflections are splintering modern Britain, Sonnie Lee’s old-fashioned but at times very progressive romantic drama doesn’t yield to the darker side of immigrant plights, focusing instead on a very tender story of reaquaintance between two like-minded individuals whose straddling of cultures old and new are both conflicted and contradictory in terms.
Visually, it reminds one of the likes of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, LOST IN TRANSLATION and French New Wave, but does attempt to get to the heart of how transitioning from one culture to another has both its’ virtues and vitriol.
Lee has stated the film comes from a very personal place, himself somebody who came to the UK from Hong Kong, only to discover detachment on occasions. It is refreshing also to see London locations looking very much like the city that as a resident of the city for decades feels very much like home.
Overall, THE DISTANCE WE DRIFT is an intimate, interesting film that does has something deeper to look at.
THE DISTANCE WE DRIFT screens as part of the London Independent Film Festival 2026 at Genesis Cinema between 10th – 19th April 2026.
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