[Resonate] ‘TAPE’ (2024) Remake: Why Hong Kong’s New Film Challenges How We See Accountability

Richard Linklater’s 2001 film Tape, a sharp, contained drama built on a single set and searing dialogue, made its mark by dissecting memory and responsibility. Now, more than two decades later, a new version, TAPE (2024), arrives from Hong Kong, taking that original play by Stephen Belber and placing it squarely in a different world, one grappling with its own specific currents of cultural change. This update is a profound re-examination, especially concerning how we confront uncomfortable truths about misdeeds and the people who commit them.

Director and co-writer Bizhan M. Tong, joined by editor Mitchell Tolliday, offered a fascinating window into the film’s origins during a recent Q&A at the Raindance Festival, which was moderated by Katrina Yung. They discussed how this new Tape doesn’t just restage a familiar conflict; it pushes us to rethink what accountability looks like, particularly when the accused isn’t the “monster” we expect