Over My Dead Body 2023

Ming To Wong Yau-Nam returns to his mother-in-law Meghan So Teresa Mo’s apartment, 14A, in the high-end Seaside Heights private estate after a long day at work. He shares the space with his wife Yana Jennifer Yu and his brother-in-law Kingston Yeung Wai-Lun. That night, after Ming takes out the garbage, he discovers a male body lying at the door of their apartment and, nervous, alerts everyone inside.

Without properly checking if the man is dead, Ming suggests calling the police, but Meghan So immediately rejects this option, fearing their apartment will become stigmatized property and significantly lose value, complicating their already debt-ridden lives. She proposes moving the corpse to their neighboring apartment 14B, and the four residents of 14A push the body next door with mops to avoid leaving traces. However, their noise alerts the residents of 14B, an elderly couple named Boron and Betty Chan [Bonnie Wong Man-Wai], who confront them in a heated exchange. The old couple argue about the building’s value and the future plans for their own lives, but they soon find common ground in trying to manage the situation.

To minimize damage to their property and plans for migration, the group agrees to relocate the corpse to 14C, where Mary Tse [Grace Wu Lai-Ying], a taciturn neighbor rumored to be connected with sorcery, lives and might know how to handle the problem. When they move the corpse to her door, the door breaks open and a pet dog runs out, revealing that Mary’s odd behavior stems from secretly keeping a pet. Meghan accuses the dog of having bitten the man to death, but Mary denies it, claiming the dog is Buddhist – a detail she says could prevent the animal from reincarnating if it caused harm.

A man steps out of the elevator and introduces himself as Bear Cheung [Ronald Cheng], who lives in 14D. The others pretend to have seen a corpse outside his apartment, which sparks a round of accusations and threats but no real action. Then Bear’s son Messi [Edan Lui] appears, easing the tension. To avoid upsetting their finances further, Meghan brings up the nearby public housing estate next to Seaside Heights known for suicides, and most agree to move the corpse there, except Messi.

As Ming, Kingston, Boron, and Bear move the body downstairs, they encounter the building’s security guard Lee Po On [Lee Sheung-Ching], who discovers the corpse. They manage to subdue him and lock him up in 14D under Messi’s reluctant supervision. Realizing that all exits are under CCTV surveillance, they decide to drop the corpse down the garbage chute and retrieve it from the refuse chamber. A group of workers cleaning the pipes forces them to rethink their plan, drawing the attention of a nearby girl smoking—Sue Yue [Hanna Chan] of 13A—who is getting married the next day and does not want any bad luck in the building, so she offers her help.

Lee manages to escape but is lured by Messi to drink beer and get drunk. He pursues the residents on the 14th floor as they use a suspended working platform to move the corpse out of the building, following Sue’s advice. Boron kicks Lee down the stairs, but the guard dies of a heart attack shortly after. The platform jams on the way up to the 14th floor, and the group stalls the corpse from entering their home with a string of excuses.

With few options left, they turn again to Sue for help. She offers to smuggle the corpse under her bridal gown during her tea ceremony the next day. The 14th-floor residents manage to slip past Sue’s relatives and friends, yet they’re blocked again by Lee on the road outside. Messi hands Lee a red envelope and the guard moves aside. They bury the corpse on a nearby hill, but the body is not dead; it is alive but merely bee-stung. Hearing the moans of the recovering man, the residents hasten to dig him out of the grave.