Break Up 100 looks like it might be a comedy, but it plays much more like a straightforward relationship drama. There are a few comic touches, of course, though very few movies are completely without them.
The opening is a little puzzling, and the reason is not immediately clear. At first, that unfamiliarity can seem like a matter of cultural difference, given that this is a Hong Kong film. By the middle, though, the film gradually moves into more familiar relationship territory.
The subject matter stays fairly light. The couple’s pattern is simple: she keeps getting angry, and he sulks. For much of the film, he is also the one who apologizes. Later, that changes. He stops apologizing, and eventually she is the one who makes the conciliatory gesture.
Overall, the film quietly portrays one possible pattern in a romantic relationship. Its emotional sensibility remains somewhat culturally distant, however, so the theme never quite lands with much force.
The film also raises a broader question about whether the atmosphere of Hong Kong cinema has changed since the 1997 handover.
A Samsung smartphone also pops up. It is a funny little detail, almost as if the Korean brand had a luxury image in Hong Kong at the time.