The Way We Talk: Chung Suet-ying shines as a deaf woman finding herself
Published: 5:45pm, 19 Feb 2025
4.5/5 stars
In his six films to date, Hong Kong writer-director Adam Wong Sau-ping has repeatedly revealed a soft spot for protagonists who are trying to understand themselves and find their place in the world. It was evident from a teenage boy's discovery of his sexuality in Wong's debut When Beckham Met Owen ; the street-dancing dreams of university students in his breakout hit The Way We Dance ; and the struggles of performing artists in navigating Hong Kong's urban spaces in The Way We Keep Dancing .
But none of those come close to matching the immersive sense of soul-searching he evokes in The Way We Talk , his latest feature. This deeply humane drama about a trio of young deaf people is Wong's best film yet by some distance.
Stepping into a big debate in deaf culture – the choice between using cochlear implants (surgically implanted electronic devices that improve hearing) or sign language – the film offers an articulate account of a deaf woman's confusion amid advocation from both sides. Chung Suet-ying, who was named best actress at the 2024 Golden Horse Awards in Taipei for her part, plays Sophie, a university graduate in actuarial science and the face of an awareness campaign for cochlear implants (CI), for which her mother (Yam Yuen Yee-man) signed her up shortly after she lost her hearing as a toddler.
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