Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? is a sweet and hilarious Taiwanese comedy about gay desire and wacky family antics, which a surprisingly dramatic resolution.
Weinchung has been married to Feng for 8 years now. He has a perfectly normal job as an optometrist, a lovely six-year-old son… and a secret. Before marrying Feng he used to be gay, but now he’s becoming attracted to men again. Meanwhile Feng, nagged on by her parents and co-workers, wants to have another child. As it that wasn’t enough, Weinchung’s wild sister Mandy gets cold feet and abandons her fiancé San-San in a huge Costco-like department store. All of the plotlines and misadventures—Feng’s frustrations, Weinchung’s infatuation with a handsome airline attendant, San-San getting Stephen, his flamboyantly bitchy wedding photographer (who used to be part of Weinchung’s old crowd) to help him get Mandy back—are played for laughs until the last act, when Feng actually catches Weinchung and Thomas kissing (just a peck on the cheek, which is as far as it’s ever gotten outside of Weinchung’s imagination).
Then it gets serious. Feng angrily confronts her husband, who at first denies everything, then confesses. Feng is not angry anymore, but they don’t know where to go from here. At Mandy and San-San’s wedding (yes, they got back together, no thanks to Stephen), Weinchung publicly promises to stay by Feng’s side forever, having already dumped the airline attendant. But Feng floors him by asking for a divorce. He’s not in love with her, she calmly explains, and they both need the chance to find love again. She doesn’t regret the years they spent together, and they’ll still be family. He accepts, and the movie ends with them serenely walking out of the wedding reception together.
Well, I for one was pleasantly shocked. First, I expected lightweight comedy, and I would have been perfectly happy with that, but the ending was surprisingly strong. Second, especially in a comedy and even after the drama, I expected Weinchung and Feng to stay together. After all, hadn’t San-San and Mandy reconciled after their breakup and multiple pathetic seduction attempts? Of course, this was the only sane solution: neither spouse was happy with the status quo, and this was the best Happily Ever After they could hope for. It was a brave choice, both for the characters and the movie.
PS: I was intrigued by Mandy eating noodles while watching soap operas. I guess ice cream to drown your sorrows is not a thing in Taiwan?