When popular singer Wan Wenfang (Zhou Xun) is found stabbed to near death in her dressing room just before a performance in Hong Kong, the prime suspect is Jimmy Thomas (Roy Sun), who was the last person to be in her company, and who tried to run away when the police arrived. In the ensuing trial, prosecutor Wu Zhengwei (Francis Ng) finds himself pitted against old flame Duan Mulan (Zhou Xun), who’s chosen to defend Thomas, convinced that he’s innocent, and suspecting instead Tian Jingcheng (Zu Feng), Wan’s devoted agent. Shot in 2015, Zhou Ke’s Remain Silent was originally slated for release in 2016, but gathered dust on a shelf for more than three years, for unclear reasons given that it’s a solid film backed by a thriving studio, and with no content that Chinese censorship might consider subversive. Its routine courtroom scenes can’t hold a candle to the thrills of Fei Xing’s Silent Witness (in whose successful Chinese footsteps Remain Silent seems to want to follow), but the central mystery is a reasonably engaging one, full of red herrings (Zhou Xun plays dual yet seemingly unrelated roles, Zu Feng is superbly ambiguous) and devious flashbacks – as well as, sadly, one or two gaping plot holes. And while the ending revelation isn’t exactly as thunderous as it’s supposed to be, it’s nevertheless a pleasure to watch masters of acting Zhou Xun and Francis Ng spar in and out of the courthouse, sharing unexpected yet impeccable, bittersweet chemistry. **1/2