There is a moment in Once a Thief where Chow Yun-fat dances through an upside-down room as if gravity were just another rule worth breaking. Step into Tai Kwun (大館) this summer and you can walk straight into that scene. The new exhibition Better Together – Partnering Up for Hong Kong Movies turns the old Central police compound into a playground of the city's greatest on-screen partnerships.
What is Better Together?
It is Tai Kwun's big summer exhibition, and it is built entirely around Hong Kong cinema. Staged in the Duplex Studio of the Police Headquarters Block, Better Together spans roughly six decades of local filmmaking, from a 1960s classic right up to the 2010s. Rather than glass cases of memorabilia, it leans into immersive, walk-through recreations of scenes you already half-remember.
That makes it a rare thing: a film exhibition you experience with your feet, not just your eyes. If you want the lay of the land before you go, our complete Tai Kwun guide covers the heritage site, its galleries and where to eat on-site.
Why partnership? The paak zyu soeng idea
The whole show hangs on a single Cantonese phrase: paak zyu soeng (拍住上). It is hard to translate cleanly — think "partnering up" or "moving forward together, arms over each other's shoulders". It is the spirit of the buddy cop, the heist crew, the mismatched duo who somehow make it work.
Hong Kong movies have always run on that energy: loyalty, trust, friction and the unlikely alliance that wins the day. By organising an entire exhibition around it, Tai Kwun makes a quietly clever argument — that teamwork, not the lone hero, is the real engine of the city's golden-age cinema. For the films themselves, our pick of the 50 greatest Hong Kong films ever made is the perfect companion read.
What you'll actually see
The centrepiece is a set of immersive re-creations from eight classic "partner" films and their sequels. Expect replica props, recreated sets and behind-the-scenes stories from the collaborators who made these moments famous. Among the titles featured:
Films you'll meet inside
| Film | Year | The partnership |
|---|---|---|
| The Black Rose | 1965 | The original double-act caper |
| Aces Go Places | 1982 | Gadgets, capers and comic chemistry |
| Once a Thief | 1991 | Chow Yun-fat's upside-down heist |
| Police Story 3 – Super Cop | 1992 | Jackie Chan's helicopter-and-gold stunt |
| Blind Detective | 2013 | An unlikely investigative duo |
Selected highlights per Time Out Hong Kong and Tai Kwun. The full line-up of eight films and sequels is listed on the official page.
The crowd-pleasers are the big set pieces: that upside-down room from Once a Thief, the robotic figures linking Aces Go Places 2 to the later Gen-Y Cops, and the dizzying helicopter-motorbike-gold-bars sequence from Super Cop. It is nostalgic, yes, but it is also a genuinely fun afternoon for anyone who grew up on this stuff — kids included.
Tickets, hours and getting there
One thing to clear up: this exhibition is ticketed, not free. Standard admission is HK$30, with HK$20 concessions — still a bargain for a couple of hours indoors and out of the summer heat. Tai Kwun ran a buy-one-get-one-free deal for its TK Fans members until 1 July, so it pays to check the site before you book.
Better Together — Visitor Info
Details per the Tai Kwun official programme page and The Standard. Confirm hours and any closed dates before visiting.
Make a half-day of it: the exhibition, a wander round Tai Kwun's heritage courtyards, then a drink on Hollywood Road as the light drops. In a city that reinvents itself every five minutes, an afternoon spent with its movie past feels like exactly the right way to use a hot summer Sunday.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make it a culture day
Pair the exhibition with the season's best shows in our guide to the best art exhibitions in Hong Kong this summer.