The Calm Beyond

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joshua Wong directs. Nathan Wong behind the camera. Jeff Caylor scores. Joshua Wong cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Hong Kong. Dialogue in Mandarin, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 6 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Mandarin, English.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Directed by Joshua Wong, shot by Nathan Wong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Jeff Caylor. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Joshua Wong shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Kara Wang and Sarinna Boggs and Terence Yin Chi-Wai carry the top of the cast.
• 8IMDB entry: tt13073374 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 79 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Nathan Wong

Original score

Jeff Caylor

Editing

Joshua Wong

Production design

Ceci Fok Pui-Si

Costume design

Jenn Chan Wan-Man

Stunt coordinator

Jason Li

Runtime

95 min · 1h 35m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

CN

IMDB

The Calm Beyond (2020) ↗

Also by

Joshua Wong

• 
  The New Politics

  2016 · ★ 5.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• MovieGuys2025-04-03
  ★ 7/10

  "the Calm Beyond" crafts a compelling but ultimately underwhelming tale, of survival and personal growth. The film takes place in the limited setting, of a largely flooded Hong Kong apartment block, after a apocalyptic tsunami, that wipes away life as the key character knew it. The character, a young woman lives her life in survival mode. She cautiously making her foot print on the world, as small as possible, to avoid detection by marauders, who infrequently raid the apartments by boat. She lives with remembrances of her past life. Her hopes but more often than not, her regrets. We get to see this in flash backs. It is in every sense a half life until a young girl arrives, bringing new hope for a more open, brave and ultimately, fulfilling future. Its a worthwhile story, its intelligently written, reflecting the kinds of real world struggles people in this predicament might face and how they would reasonably, respond. Where it falls down somewhat is the relationship between the two primary characters, always feels emotionally shallow. The deep bond we hope to see in the face of adversity, never really arrives. The results a competent film, with quality performances and narrative but one that feels, dissatisfying. In summary, a lot to like here that would have been that much better again, with more of an emphasis, on developing the emotional ties, between the woman and the child.Nonetheless, certainly worth a look.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• OP

  Option Four

Key crew

• EditorJoshua Wong
• CastingMatthew Bailey
• Executive ProducerGavin Lurie
• ProducerKathy Wong
• Executive ProducerNajeeb Khuda
• Executive ProducerChelsea Wong
• ProducerJoshua Wong
• Stunt CoordinatorJason Li
• Production DesignCeci Fok Pui-Si
• Costume DesignJenn Chan Wan-Man

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2020-10-16· Adelaide Film Festival

Also known as

International titles

• 平静以后CN
• 水過留痕HK
• 天静杀CN
• 平静之外CN