Exposés into care homes across the globe have uncovered shocking levels of neglect and abuse levied against some of the most vulnerable people in society. Tackling this heart-wrenching topic in excruciating detail is Lawrence Kwan Chun Kan’s In Broad Daylight, which casts an unflinching gaze at the topic of physical and sexual abuse within the care home system in China.
The crime drama begins with Kay (Jennifer Yu), a journalist undercover as a woman visiting her ailing grandfather at the Rainbow Bridge Care Home. She is there to investigate rumours of corruption and abuse after being tipped off by an anonymous source. Semi-disillusioned from her job at the Hong Kong newspaper and convinced that their work is meaningless, her icy heart slowly begins to thaw as she bonds with the care home’s members and uncovers the darkness behind closed doors in the one place they should be safest.
Kay witnesses a nurse (Pui-Yue Bo) beating a young resident, while the home’s manager Cheung Kim-Wah (Bowie Lam) puts on a smiling, happy veneer while buckling under financial pressures and low staffing. As the news team’s investigation continues, it has devastating effects on both the residents and journalists alike as their lives are forever altered by the sheer horrors uncovered not just in Rainbow Bridge, but across China.
In Broad Daylight wastes no time in getting to the scoop, plunging viewers right into the fast-paced world of investigative journalism and the espionage that comes with it to get to the heart of the story. Kay’s cynical view of the world contrasts starkly against the hope the residents of the care home hold dear despite their circumstances, and it is this that is the raw, beating heart that carries each narrative beat and shocking twist.
Kan’s unshrinking filmmaking blends fast-paced editing with diabolically tense long takes highlighting some of the film’s uncomfortable scenes of abuse levied towards its victims, including sequences of a young, disabled boy being repeatedly stabbed with a stapler, and a sunny girl whose light is dampened forever as she is sexually abused by Kim-Wah. Kan never lets the audience look away from the cruelty, instead lingering so the devastation of the situation has time to be fully absorbed and felt. This is compounded by the bursts of sheer joy within the narrative that offer some light relief from the misery and show that humanity can always be found in the darkest of places.
The muted colour palette and orchestral score which culminates in a harrowing scene where elderly residents are showered in the streets add to the overall grey tone of the film. Moreover, In Broad Daylight is packed full of stellar performances to grapple with these sensitive themes, most notably through Jennifer Yu’s powerful Kay, whose emotional journey through the film is as captivating as her scoop as she grapples with her grief in the wake of losing her grandfather and the bond she fosters with the Rainbow Bridge residents.
Though the film at times relies heavily on newsroom cliches that detract away from the sobering scenes of abuse, In Broad Daylight is a startling, painful look at a devastating scandal that is all too common outside of the big screen.
In Broad Daylight
Summary
Raw, emotive and unflinching, In Broad Daylight is a daring piece of cinema that pulls no punches with its heart-breaking narrative and stellar performances.
In Broad Daylight is out in selected UK cinemas now.
