''Inner Senses'' is a 2002 Hong Kong psychological horror film directed by Law Chi-leung and starring

Leslie Cheung Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (12 September 1956 – 1 April 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actor. Throughout a 26-year career from 1977 until his death, Cheung released over 40 music albums and acted in 56 films. He was one of the most prominent ...

and

Karena Lam Karena Lam (; born 17 August 1978) is a Taiwanese Canadian actress and singer based in Hong Kong. In 2015, she won the Best Actress award at the Golden Horse Awards for her role in '' Zinnia Flower'', making her the first person ever to have wo ...

. The film explores themes on hallucination, clinical depression, psychological trauma and suicide. It was also the last film Cheung acted in before his death in April 2003.

Summary

Psychiatrist Dr. Jim Law tries to treat his patient, Cheung Yan, a woman who believes that she sees ghosts. Law does not believe in the supernatural and thinks that she is repressing her past. Law reads Yan's diaries to better understand her psyche and learns that her parents are divorced and do not care for her. Yan's condition improves gradually and they develop a romantic relationship at the same time. However, Law feels that he cannot become too close to Yan because she is his patient and tries to convey the message to her indirectly. Yan understands his words and feels hurt, as she thinks that he is dumping her in the same way as her ex-boyfriend did. She starts having hallucinations again and sees the spirits of her landlord's deceased wife and son, after which she attempts suicide by overdosing on antidepressants and slitting her wrist, but survives. Law travels to Yan's apartment later and hears strange noises in the bathroom and thinks that her neighbour upstairs is responsible. Once, Law sees a female ghost while looking out of his window, and sees her again on another two occasions while driving and swimming. He starts taking antidepressants as well and tries to electrocute himself, but is rescued in time and recovers. Law eventually helps Yan recover from her mental illness by reuniting her with her parents. Following that, he starts dating Yan as she is no longer his patient. While in a restaurant one day, Law is attacked by a woman, whom he remembers to be the mother of the ghost he saw. He starts having nightmares and begins sleepwalking, behaving erratically and reacting violently when Yan and his colleagues ask him. The ghost that Law sees is actually Siu-yu, his ex-girlfriend in high school, who committed suicide after Law broke up with her. Law has visions of Siu-yu following him wherever he goes and flees in horror until he finally reaches the top of a building. He is confronted by Siu-yu's ghost, who wants to force him to jump off. Law shows remorse for causing Siu-yu's death and the ghost disappears. After that, he sees Yan walking towards him and embraces her, and the film ends with both of them sitting together on the top of the building.

Cast

as Jim Law **Hugo Chim as young Jim Law *

as Cheung Yan *

Waise Lee Waise Lee Chi-hung (born 19 December 1959) is a Hong Kong film and television actor best known for playing the roles of villains and antagonists in various films. Biography Lee graduated from TVB's Artist Training Academy in 1982 and was from the ...

as Wilson Chan *

Valerie Chow Valerie Chow (born 16 December 1970) is a Canadian former actress, fashion publicist, and entrepreneur. She has starred in numerous widely popular films and television series, most memorably in Wong Kar-wai's internationally acclaimed 1994 feat ...

as Mrs Chan *

Norman Chui Norman Chui Siu-keung (; born 16 October 1950) is a Hong Kong actor. He was best known for portraying heroic protagonists in many martial arts films from the 1970s to 1980s and later portraying villainous roles in the 1990s. Chui was contracted wi ...

as Mr Chu *Maggie Poon as Cheung Siu-yu *Samuel Lam as Professor Fong *Leung Tin as Hospital director *

So Hang-suen Soh Hang-suen (10 October 1951 – 12 June 2013), (alternatively romanised as So Hung-shuen), was a Hong Kong actress. Soh worked for TVB during its ''Golden Age'', joining in 1974, and was most notable for her role in ''Looking Back in Anger ...

as Siu-yu's mother *Wong Shu-tong as Siu-yu's father *Lee Pui-shing as Mike *Courtney Wu as Swimming pool custodian *Olivia Wong as Jim's assistant *Liu Hongdou as Yan's mother *Sun Liwen as Yan's father *Jova Yuen as Jim's friend *Tony Wong as Bathroom ghost *Ho Pui-san as Mike's girlfriend *Stefan Kratz as Foreign student *Helda Chan as Jim's classmate *Wat Wai-kwok as Head nurse *Josephine Choi as Jim's maid *Lai Pui-yin as Chu's wife *Lee Ting-fung as Chu's son *Stanley Wong as Man living upstairs *Zerisawa as Pool security

Release

''Inner Senses'' was released in Hong Kong on 28 March 2002. In the Philippines, the film was released on 24 September 2003, with the marketing exploiting the death of Leslie Cheung by stating it occurred under the same circumstances as what happened to his character Jim Law.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Law Chi-leung 2002 films 2000s psychological horror films 2002 horror films Cantonese-language films Films about mental health Films about physicians Films directed by Law Chi-leung Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Golden Harvest films Hong Kong ghost films Hong Kong horror films Hong Kong supernatural horror films Hong Kong psychological horror films 2000s Hong Kong films