Tropical Night

A short film about the world of webcam girls.

Jo (Chan) is an Asian student who lives with her mother (Tong). After her friend Alvin (Law) informs her about a website where women offer services as cam-girls in return for financial rewards, she decides to have a look and find out more about it.

This interesting drama offers an insight into life as a webcam girl and investigates online socialising in general and it is also a coming-of-age story. The film begins with a computer screen containing an online conversation between Jo and Alvin, with browser windows that contain their characters as they are being filmed by webcams. The narrative then moves on to a conversation that Jo has with her mother while sitting at a table and eating. After that, Jo looks into the adult website, curious to see what camming is all about, which takes up approximately half of the film's duration.

The screenplay focuses a great deal on the cam-girl universe and social media and the majority of the image is set on a computer screen. Jo spends a lot of time observing a webcam girl named Stacie (Long) and asks her questions regarding why she does that type of work and generally what it is like making a living as a cam-girl, while other users just flirt with her. Stacie is friendly and appears content with her decisions. The story does not focuse solely on how people utilise social networking services, as it explores Jo's family life, which is experiencing difficulties due to her father's absence and her mother is eager for her to find someone and be settled for life. The plot also involves an Asian King whose concubine has just been released from prison.

The acting is good and Chan is convincing as a schoolgirl who is reaching a point in her life where she has to make decisions for herself. Tong is emotional as a mother who wants her daughter to live a comfortable life.

The filmmakers effectively use webcams and social networking services in order to tell a story and the romantic song that is heard during the webcam girl part was a good choice.

This short explores family values and looks into the world of camming. Focusing on interesting themes and utilising creative filmmaking techniques, this achievement offers a thoughtful experience.