That rare case of a director being great so many times that when his latest film is merely very good it feels like a disappointment.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 4, 2024

Indeed, that captivating oddity of Tati’s is the film Office most resembles, rather than any existing musical. Playtime and Office are both distilled versions of their directors’ key interests within the framework of observing their weird worlds...

| Nov 15, 2023

As always, To's sharpness is evident; just as he touches upon Hong Kong's affiliation with China in his mob movies, in this luminous musical, he points to the economic downturn... [Full review in Spanish]

| Nov 16, 2022

The tunes are a decent if eclectic mix, but Office is just too long and boring to sustain interest.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 19, 2019

Offices, board rooms, apartments, dive bars, fancy restaurants, hotel rooms, gymnasiums and 24-hour convenience stores are all rendered as a series of vertical lines, Mondrian prisons that dwarf and mock the petty manipulations of the characters.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 5, 2019

"Office" isn't a radical critique of capitalism, but it gets its digs in nevertheless.

| Feb 15, 2018

If Hou Hsiao-hsien can make a martial-arts fantasy, then Johnnie To can damn well make a glossy musical. And with Office he has, and it's splendid

| Oct 2, 2017

If you think that theatre has nothing to do with your cinephilic tendencies, Office is easy proof that the masters of cinema tend to borrow from the stage, to often exquisite effect.

| Aug 14, 2017

This balance between stodgy, realistic business talk and the fantasy realm of PVC pipe architecture hints at a veteran director unafraid to make some big risks of his own.

| Jul 8, 2016

Johnnie To's consummate flair as a visual stylist is on full display in [this] 3D musical adapted for the screen by actress-scriptwriter Sylvia Chang from her first written play, Design for Living.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 2, 2016

What makes the film dazzling to watch is the combination of To's camera movement, Yun Ng's choreography, and, the biggest surprise, William Chang's production design.

| Mar 29, 2016

The dense references to financial predicaments and workplace life actively refuse the conventions of a neat and chirpy Westernised musical.

| Original Score: Recommended | Mar 2, 2016

It's a marvel to look at, and even if you're not into modern musicals, there's no denying this is the work of a master craftsman trying-and succeeding-to do something completely different.

| Original Score: B | Feb 23, 2016

Global Economic Crash: The Musical.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 22, 2016

The buoyant music articulates the contrast at the heart of the film, or as Talking Heads once said, "And as things fell apart/nobody paid much attention."

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 20, 2016

The real highlight is the simultaneously bare-bones and elaborate modernist structures, best described as a blend of Lars von Trier's Dogville and Jacques Tati's Playtime.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 20, 2016

After a while the overpacked plot begins to feel like an afternoon meeting that won't end.

| Dec 3, 2015

The bones-bared design-there's literally nowhere to hide-looks fantastic even as the story-armature of corporate intrigue falls away: the hypnotic and lovely choreography of setting and performers is narcotic, capering, swirling, gliding.

| Dec 2, 2015

Too many characters and strands are built then buried in favour of big, gaudy dance sequences, most of which lack the tunes to be catchy and the heart to truly strike a chord.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 20, 2015

Kudos to versatile director Johnnie To and writer-actress Chang for delivering a far from workman-like Office.

| Oct 8, 2015