Gay love is complicated enough on its own. Add family expectations, years of keeping secrets, and a society that doesn’t always accept you for who you are, and things get even messier. Now imagine discovering love when you’re already well into your golden years. That’s the story behind Suk Suk (Twilight’s Kiss), a 2019 Hong Kong film about two closeted gay men who find each other when they least expect it.
And there’s one little complication: they’re both married to women.
A Gay Love Story That Comes With a Lifetime of Baggage
Directed by Ray Yeung, Suk Suk follows Pak (Tai Bo), a taxi driver who refuses to retire, and Hoi (Ben Yuen), a retired single father. The two men meet in a park, and what begins as an unexpected encounter soon opens the door to feelings they’ve spent decades keeping buried.
Both men have built families and lives they can be proud of. They’ve worked hard, fulfilled their responsibilities, and done what society expected of them. But beneath the surface, there’s another part of themselves they’ve never truly been able to explore.
As they share memories of their lives, Pak and Hoi begin considering a future together. The question is whether they can finally choose their own happiness without losing the families and stability they’ve spent years building.
Because falling in love is one thing. Figuring out what to do about it when you’ve spent most of your life in the closet? That’s another story entirely.
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Growing Up Gay When Being Gay Was Illegal
What makes Suk Suk especially moving is the world its characters grew up in. Their struggles aren’t simply about being afraid to come out. They’re shaped by decades of stigma, discrimination, and the very real possibility of facing legal consequences for their sexuality.
In an interview with Roar UK, Yeung explained that the film was inspired by Oral Histories of Older Gay Men in Hong Kong, a collection of interviews with 12 elderly gay Hongkongers.
The director wanted to tell stories that reflected experiences different from those of younger LGBTQ+ people today. As he explained, many older gay men carried a deep sense of shame because of the circumstances in which they grew up.
Homosexual relations between men were criminalized in Hong Kong until 1991. Yeung also described how the threat of imprisonment and blackmail shaped the lives of gay men during that period.
For Pak and Hoi, then, living openly isn’t as simple as finally admitting who they are. Their entire lives have been built around navigating a world that taught them to hide.
It’s Never Too Late to Want More
Suk Suk is a reminder that gay love doesn’t come with an expiration date. You don’t stop wanting affection, intimacy, or someone who understands you just because you’ve reached a certain age.
But the film also recognizes that choosing love can be complicated when other people, including spouses and children, are part of the picture. There’s no magical reset button for decades of history, and starting over doesn’t mean the lives they’ve built suddenly stop mattering.
Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t discovering who you are. It’s deciding what to do with that truth after spending years trying to keep it hidden.
And if there’s one thing this film makes clear, it’s that nobody should have to spend a lifetime wondering what their love story might have looked like if they’d been allowed to live it.