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Edmund Lee

3.5/5 stars
It is perhaps indicative of what many Hong Kong people think about the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) that a documentary about it should come in two versions: one that includes profanities (rated IIB, for general release) and one that does not (IIA, for school screenings).
The city’s dreaded public exam system has been the source of plenty of traumatic memories for its population over the decades, and Once Upon a Time in HKDSE must be commended for offering as clear-sighted and empathetic an account of the experience as one could expect.
The directorial debut of Leung Yik-ho, the film was initially released as a 10-part web series by the popular YouTube channel Trial & Error before being re-edited into a feature-length documentary under the supervision of celebrated film editor William Chang Suk-ping.


Running at a brisk 90 minutes, the resulting film is at once an on-the-ground look at one current candidate’s stressful last-minute preparations and a wistful look back at what it all meant for another former exam taker.
The nominal protagonist is Tang Ngai-hong, a candidate for the HKDSE in 2023. When we first meet him, he is just four months away from the exam and the teenager is clearly far too behind in his study progress to have any realistic chance of securing the necessary results to get into university.
In an unusual arrangement, the Trial & Error team enlist a roster of private teachers, including the star tutor Jayden Lam Yat-yan (aka YY Lam), to help Tang make up for lost time. Will the practical and emotional support that everyone showers on Tang make a difference?

Meanwhile, it is the secondary storyline, featuring Trial & Error co-founder and the film’s co-producer Hui Yin as a former candidate who has long struggled to process his exam-related regrets, that proves to be both funnier and far more poignant than Tang’s story.
Hui’s conversations with his mother are among the film’s unexpected highlights. In the process of studying alongside Tang and retaking two subjects in the 2023 HKDSE, the 30-year-old entertainer also gets a much-needed second chance to put his past academic ordeal in context.
In the end, Once Upon a Time in HKDSE is not so much a thrilling testament to one student who works miracles right before the finish line as it is a casually philosophical look at the first major hurdle in the lives of most of these Hong Kong students.

How are they supposed to push themselves to their limits for the HKDSE – but not so hard that they end up killing themselves? And what’s the big deal about it even if one fails at this exam? Leung’s film offers no easy answers, but at least it is asking many of the right questions.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, dial +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services.
In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.


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Tang Ngai-hong (left) and Hui Yin in a still from Once Upon a Time in HKDSE.

Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination candidates Tang Ngai-hong (front) and Hui Yin in a still from Once Upon a Time in HKDSE (category: IIB or IIA, Cantonese) directed by Leung Yik-ho.



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YouTuber Hui Yin is one of the candidates preparing to take Hong Kong’s dreaded university entrance exam in a documentary full of questions


A teenage student cramming for Hong Kong’s university entrance exam joins YouTuber Hui Yin, who is resitting it at 30 to put right his past failures, in documentary Once Upon a Time in HKDSE.


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HKDSE - Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education

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Review | Once Upon a Time in HKDSE movie review: Hong Kong public exam stress wistfully explored

YouTuber Hui Yin is one of the candidates preparing to take Hong Kong’s dreaded university entrance exam in a documentary full of questions