But not so fast. As deconstructed by Ho and writers Frankie Tam, Oliver Yip and Vincent Leung, The Sparring Partner's real story lies in the constantly shifting sands of truth and justice that make work difficult for the legal minds involved, chiefly prosecutor Allen Chu (Michael Chow, 2022's Where the Wind Blows), and the defense — Carrie Yau (Louisa So) for Tong and Wilson Ng (Jan Lamb, 2017's 29+1) for Cheung. Also trying to make sense of the mess is the jury, some of whom want to get home in time for dinner while others are committed to figuring out who did what, and why.

Whether Ho and his writing team are simply recreating a bizarre story or trying to interrogate the lines between guilt and responsibility, genius manipulation and trusting idiocy, and how the law determines all of them, is hard to tell. The film is so frantically edited — not visually, but in pacing and story structure — that it's often hard to pin down what it is we, as viewers, are supposed to focus on. Who are the sparring partners? Is it the professional colleagues on either side of the legal divide, or is it the accused murderers, who bounce off each other as either puppet master and victim or wily accomplices, depending on your point of view.