''Bodies at Rest'' is a 2019 action thriller film directed by

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood and Cinema of China, China. His best-known films include ''A Nightmare on Elm ...

, starring

Nick Cheung Nick Cheung Ka-fai (; born 2 December 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and director. Background He was formerly a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for four years, but he left the job after his request to be transferred to the criminal investigat ...

Richie Jen Richie Jen Hsien-chi (, born 23 June 1966) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He graduated from the Chinese Culture University's physical education department. His hits include "Too Softhearted" (), "Look Over Here, Girl" (), "The Sad Pacific" () ...

, and Yang Zi. It is Harlin's third Chinese-language film, following ''

Skiptrace Skiptrace (also skip tracing, or debtor and fugitive recovery) is the process of locating a person's whereabouts. A skip tracer is someone who performs this task, which may be the person's primary occupation. The term "skip" (as a noun) refers t ...

'' (2016) and ''

Legend of the Ancient Sword ''Legend of the Ancient Sword'' ( zh, 古剑奇谭之流月昭明) is a Chinese fantasy-adventure-action film directed by Renny Harlin and based on the video game '' Gu Jian Qi Tan 2''. The film was released worldwide on October 1, 2018. Plot Due ...

'' (2018). The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the 43rd

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens around 230 films ...

on March 18, 2019. It was released in China on August 16, 2019.

Plot

A pathologist Chen Jia Hao and his assistant Lynn are working late at a public morgue on a Christmas Eve. Three masked men break into the morgue, trying to retrieve a bullet from a corpse.

Cast

as Nick Chan *

as Santa * Yang Zi as Lynn Qiao *

Clara Lee Clara Lee (; born Lee Sung-min () on 14 January 1985), better known by her mononym Clara, is a Swiss-born British actress and model based in South Korea. Career Clara (born Lee Sung-Min，李成敏) made her entertainment debut under her birt ...

as Ankie Cheng *

MC Jin Jin Au-Yeung (; born June 4, 1982), known professionally as MC Jin, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and comedian of Chinese descent. Jin is notable for being the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label ...

as Wyatt (

cleaner A cleaner or a cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who cleans homes or commercial premises for payment. Cleaning operatives may specialise in cleaning particular things or places, such as window cleaners. Cleaning oper ...

)

Release

The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the 43rd

on March 18, 2019. It was also screened at the

Far East Film Festival Far East Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Udine, Italy. It is one of the most important events promoting Asian Cinema in Europe. It focuses mainly on the films from East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which i ...

and the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

. It was released in China on August 16, 2019. The film earned $18 million in its opening weekend.

Reception

On review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . Elizabeth Kerr of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' wrote, "Despite its flaws, ''Bodies'' grabs you quickly and never really lets go for the entirety of its lean, efficient 90 minutes." She described the film as "the simultaneously derivative and yet entirely amusing hodgepodge." Fionnuala Halligan of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' commented that the film "delivers what it promises and no more, but it fulfils its brief with eye-rolling relish."

References

External links

* {{Renny Harlin 2019 films 2010s Christmas films 2019 action thriller films Chinese action thriller films Chinese Christmas films Hong Kong action thriller films Hong Kong Christmas films Media Asia films Films directed by Renny Harlin 2010s Hong Kong films