Psychiatrist Dr Man (Terrance Lau) is tormented by nightmares that he immediately forgets about upon waking. When he encounters and beings to treat troubled taxi driver Choi (Cheung), who also suffers from nightmares that affect his sleep and mental health, Man finds that he must not only delve into his patient’s past, but his own as well.

Director, screenwriter and supporting actor Cheung, best known for his impressive lead performances in films such as Breaking News, initially also impresses on the stylistic front, depicting the dream sequences with an extensive use of surreal imagery, colour filters, and sound distortion to convey the disjointed thought processes of subconscious minds.

This approach extends to the portrayal of real-world settings, such as Choi’s dilapidated flat, which is bathed in an unnatural purple light and heavy shadows that serve to mirror his fractured mental state. Scenes involving the flat come the closest to evoking similar imagery used in Category III films that pervaded Hong Kong cinema during the late 80s and early 90s, which is clearly intended by Cheung.

In addition, as well as effectively portraying Choi’s disturbed behaviour and mental decline, Cheung also elicits strong performances from Lau, who convincingly shows how the altruistic Man masks his past trauma, and Fala Chen as Choi’s unstable wife, who is impressively unnerving in many of her scenes.

However, Cheung’s script leaves much to be desired, with the revelations regarding the meanings behind Choi and Man’s dreams being disappointingly straightforward and prosaic when darker and more ambiguous conclusions would have been more satisfactory.

Whilst the shared financial theme can be seen as reflecting a criticism of materialistic and capitalism-centred aspects of Hong Kong society, it isn’t developed strongly enough by Cheung to warrant that interpretation, instead concluding on a variation of the old adage, ‘money is the root of all evil’.

In addition, a mid-credits scene showing a further twist to Man’s recurring dream not only adds another aspect to the character that is completely inconsistent with what has been established throughout the film’s running time, it also comes out of nowhere with no foreshadowing. Its jarring inclusion seems only to be to justify the inclusion of a character played by Hong Kong star Andy Lau – that of a psychiatrist with the power to enter dreams – who has no impact on the main plot otherwise and whose ability clashes with the film’s overall realistic tone.

Peg ‘O My Heart has a strong beginning, helped by its unique stylised approach, but fumbles narratively as it progresses, ultimately concluding on an unconvincing ‘sequel hook’ that clashes and detracts.

In selected cinemas now