''The Receptionist'' () is a 2016

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by London-based Taiwanese director Jenny Lu, starring Teresa Daley and

Chen Shiang-chyi Chen Shiang-chyi (; born 27 November 1969) is a Taiwanese actress. She has appeared in most of Tsai Ming-liang's feature films. Career When she was studying at the Taipei National University of the Arts, Chen was spotted by Edward Yang when he ...

. Inspired by a true story, the film follows the lives of Asian migrant women who had arrived in London in hopes of a better life but end up taking jobs in an illegal massage parlor to survive. The film premiered at the

Golden Horse Film Festival The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

on 20 November 2016.

Premise

Tina is a Taiwanese graduate living in London with her British student architect boyfriend. Struggling to find work during the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, Tina takes a job as a receptionist at an illegal massage parlour. As she slowly gets to know the women who work there, she is forced to question her values and morals.

Cast

*Teresa Daley as Tina *

as Sasa *Amanda Fan as Mei *Josh Whitehouse as Frank *Sophie Gopsill as Lily *Teng Shuang as Anna

Production

The film received funding from Taiwan's

Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development The Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (BAMID; ) is the bureau of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China responsible for supervising and promoting film, broadcasting, television and popular music sectors of Taiwan. ...

, as well as through a crowdfunding campaign on

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

Release

The film has been an official selection at 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 ...

, the

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

, the

Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

the

Durban International Film Festival The Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Founded in 1979 by Teddy Sarkin and Ros Sarkin, it is the oldest and largest film festival in Africa an ...

, the Milan and Salento Film Festivals and the 40th Asian American International Film Festival in New York City.

Soundtrack

Promotional song

Reception

Critical response

''The Receptionist (Jie Xian Yuan)'' has received an 88% rating on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

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 ...

. ''Peter Bradshaw'' of

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

lauded it as ''"a valuable, intelligent debut."'' ''Elizabeth Kerr'' in

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 ...

gave it more mixed reviews.

Accolades

References

External links

* *
The Receptionist (Jie Xian Yuan)
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Receptionist, The 2016 films Taiwanese-language films Taiwanese drama films British drama films 2016 drama films Films about prostitution in the United Kingdom Films set in London Kickstarter-funded films 2016 directorial debut films 2010s English-language films 2010s Mandarin-language films 2010s British films