A Nail Clipper Romance

Lore & Background

The film originated from Pang Ho-cheung's 2007 novella, which he initially intended to adapt for the anthology film Trivial Matters but excluded due to length constraints. In 2010, Pang adapted it as a 40-minute short film for the horror anthology 4+1 Project, directed by Derek Tsang and starring Zhou Xun and Lawrence Chou. Following positive reviews, Pang decided to expand the story into a feature-length film, inviting cinematographer Jason Kwan to direct. The project was announced in early 2014, with principal photography taking place in late 2014 on Oahu, Hawaii, primarily around Honolulu. Filming concluded before March 2015, and the film entered its promotional cycle in early 2016.

Reader's Guide

A Nail Clipper Romance represents a unique entry in Chinese-language cinema, blending fantasy and romance with a whimsical premise. The film's significance lies in its adaptation journey from a novella to a short film and finally to a feature, showcasing Pang Ho-cheung's persistence in developing the concept. The choice to film in Hawaii, with its large Chinese population, was noted as a refreshing setting for a Chinese-language film. The cast included actors from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, reflecting the demographics of Chinese Hawaiians. The film's release was delayed from its planned world premiere at the 11th Osaka Asian Film Festival in March 2016, eventually premiering on 10 April 2017 and receiving theatrical releases in China and Hong Kong on 14 April. Its legacy includes being Jason Kwan's directorial debut and a continuation of Pang's exploration of quirky, character-driven stories.

Did You Know?

• The film was inspired by Pang Ho-cheung's childhood experiences of frequently losing nail clippers and imagining a monster secretly eating them.
• Principal photography took place entirely on Oahu, Hawaii, primarily around Honolulu.
• Richie Jen's 1998 single 'A Sad Pacific' was used as the theme song, rearranged and covered by Taiwanese singer Jiro Wang.

A Long Road to the Screen

Pang Ho-cheung's novella about a nail clipper-eating monster has been in development for over a decade before reaching audiences as a feature film. The story originated from Pang's childhood memories of losing nail clippers at home and imagining a creature responsible. In 2007, while producing the anthology film Trivial Matters, Pang attempted to adapt all seven novellas from his collection but found this particular story too expansive for a 30-minute segment. He shelved it and moved on. In 2010, he revisited the material as a 40-minute segment within the horror anthology 4+1 Project, directed by Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan, with Zhou Xun and Lawrence Chou headlining. That short film, like the original novella, concluded with an open ending. After seeing the short's reception, Pang decided the story deserved a fuller treatment. The feature-length adaptation was first announced in early 2014, with principal photography running through early 2015 and a promotional push beginning in 2016.

A Bittersweet Fantasy Romance

The film follows Sean, a surfboard shaper in Hawaii, whose life unravels after he catches his girlfriend cheating. A near-drowning incident at the surf spot leads his friends to drag him to a bar, where a mysterious Chinese-speaking girl licks his face as a drinking-game punishment. That girl is Emily, who claims to be a nail clipper monster — a humanoid creature whose species feeds exclusively on the small metal clippers. Their courtship unfolds through street graffiti, shared dinners (or rather, Emily's refusal to eat), and Sean's late father's vintage car. When Sean discovers a half-bitten nail clipper in the bathroom, Emily confesses her true nature, tracing her ancestors' arrival in America during the Gold Rush to hunt for metal. Sean, the only one who believes her, sells the car to fund Emily's dream: a café for nail clipper monsters. The venture fails, Emily leaves, and an investigator reveals she is actually a Chinese woman from Hawaii. Yet the film's final image — Emily happily munching clippers on a rooftop — leaves the question of her true nature deliberately unresolved.

Creative Team and Cast

A Nail Clipper Romance marked the directorial debut of Jason Kwan, who helmed the project as a China-Hong Kong co-production. The film is adapted from Pang Ho-cheung's novella, and Pang also serves as producer, giving the project a deeply personal creative anchor. The lead roles are carried by Zhou Dongyu as Emily and Joseph Chang as Sean, with Zaizai Lin as Lulu, Sean's secretly devoted friend, and Nadow Lin as his best friend Matt. Special appearances include Evonne Sie as Sean's cousin Fion, Ekin Cheng as his surfboard-shaping mentor Master, and Tiffany Ann Hsu as his ex-girlfriend Carman. The casting choices reflect the film's cross-cultural setting in Hawaii, blending Chinese, Korean, and American identities into an ensemble that supports the central romance. The production's dual-country backing and the involvement of a writer-producer who had been nurturing the story since 2007 give the film a distinctly collaborative, multi-stage creative pedigree.

Festival Withdrawal and Theatrical Debut

The film's path to audiences was not without turbulence. It was originally slated to compete for the top prize at the 11th Osaka Asian Film Festival in March 2016, but the production pulled the film from the competition roughly a month before the event. The reasons for the withdrawal are not detailed in available records, but the delay pushed the film's world premiere to 10 April 2017. Just four days later, on 14 April 2017, the film opened theatrically in both mainland China and Hong Kong, honoring its status as a co-production between the two markets. The gap between the originally planned 2016 festival debut and the actual 2017 release means the film spent an additional year in post-production, promotion, and distribution negotiations. For a project that had been in various stages of development since 2007, this final stretch represented the culmination of more than a decade of Pang Ho-cheung's efforts to bring his childhood imagination of a nail-clipper-eating monster to the big screen.