LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL 2025 REVIEW! Before you start reading this review of Blossoms Under Somewhere, read director Riley Yip’s title once again and think about what the story might be. You’re wrong. Let’s get into it.
Ching (Marf Yau) is a high school student with a stutter, which means she’s shy, hangs in the background, and is practically invisible to everyone else. The only one who sees her is her best friend, Rachel (Sheena Chan). While Ching has a problem speaking in public, she maintains a vibrant online persona, chatting with men who pay top dollar to buy the panties she wears each day.
Her day is pretty typical: enduring school, taking off her panties, and shipping them to customers. Helping her is the delivery driver, Ben (Shin Cheung), who figured out her scheme while rifling through packages in search of snacks to eat. Ben soon gets caught in the middle as Ching begins falling for her best customer, Gabriel Lau (Adam Pak), a professor at a prestigious university across town from Ching.
Looking for a way out of her life, Ching decides to deliver a pair of her panties in person to Gabriel. With the help of Rachel and Ben, maybe Ching will become the future Mrs. Lau.
“Ching decides to deliver a pair of her panties in person to Gabriel.”
After reading my synopsis of Blossoms Under Somewhere, the movie is a lot crazier than this, as Rachel eventually joins in on the panty scheme. Both also attend a Christian private school run by the authoritarian modesty cop Lady Snape (Paisley Pui Wei Hu). If you’re looking for a creepy and uncomfortable film, then this will be right up your alley.
Now, creepiness aside, Blossoms Under Somewhere is also a sweet story about friendship and coming into your own. Ching hides behind her online persona, searching for love and a sense of belonging, and it’s put to the test when she and Rachel get into a massive blowup over the panty scheme.
I didn’t know this, but Marf Yau—who plays Ching—is a massive pop star in Hong Kong. She gives an incredible performance. No matter how absurd things get, Yau’s performance keeps the film grounded, especially through its wildly over-the-top ending. I appreciate that Blossoms Under Somewhere just goes crazy with its story. Though there’s nothing sexually explicit, just the idea alone may cause some uptight Americans to walk out. How’s that for a recommendation?
Blossoms Under Somewhere dares you to judge it by its title — then gleefully pulls the rug out from under you. Bold, bizarre, and oddly heartfelt, it’s a sweet-and-sour coming-of-age comedy about the messy intersections of identity, friendship, and panty profiteering. If you can handle the cringe, you just might fall in love with its weird, wild charm.
Blossoms Under Somewhere screened at the 2025 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
"…looking for a creepy and uncomfortable film, then this will be right up your alley."
