Even the soft, hazy cello-intensive score has a Wong vibe, but somehow the package as a whole feels like a smooth synthesis of elements instead of a derivative rip-off.

Snakehead entices you with a lurid premise, but the empathy that shines through the cracks of its tough exterior is the real surprise.

"Snakehead" tumbles all too quietly under the weight of its ambition.

Leong does well to coordinate his moving parts into a smooth-running machine, even if it isn’t a sexy one. “Snakehead” ultimately reads more like a book than it does a film: it leaves more to the imagination than what meets the eye.