Exiled

Set in Macau in 1998, as the territory passes from Portuguese to Chinese rule, the film follows two Hong Kong hitmen sent across the water to kill a former gang associate who has stepped away from the triad and settled with his family. Blaze, one of the pair, once counted the target as a close friend, and his enthusiasm for the job is limited. He and his partner find two other former colleagues already in Macau, determined to shield the man at any cost, and the opposing sides must work out how to proceed. Their negotiation is complicated by the arrival of a fifth gunman, who threatens the fragile arrangement.

Johnnie To directed this entry as the seventeenth of the twenty-three films he has directed, following Election 2 and preceding Mad Detective, from a screenplay by Yip Tin-Shing and Szeto Kam-Yuen. Anthony Wong plays Blaze, Francis Ng plays Tai, Roy Cheung plays Cat, Lam Suet plays Fat, Nick Cheung plays Wo, and Josie Ho plays Jin, among a credited cast of twenty-four. Produced in Hong Kong by Media Asia Films and Milkyway Image, it runs 108 minutes.

The film drew an IMDb rating of 7.2 from around 10,000 votes and a matching 7.2 on TMDB, while a critics' rating of 7.1 rests on 64 reviews, so audiences and critics responded similarly. Its reported budget of 35 million US dollars contrasts sharply with a worldwide box office of about 1 million, indicating a commercially unsuccessful release despite the steady reception.