Overview
A gripping tale of ambition and betrayal in the underworld of organized crime.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- tense
- sardonic
- darkly comic
- crime movie night
- hong kong cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as a stylish, suspenseful, darkly amusing, and incisive portrait of organized crime adapting to modern capitalist self-interest.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The rival leaders compete for the Triad chairmanship while alliances and traditional codes are repeatedly subordinated to personal advantage.
Johnnie To stages factional confrontations and criminal rituals with precise blocking, escalating physical threat, and stylized action choreography.
The story places a family-style Hong Kong criminal organization under pressure from contemporary capitalist self-interest and operational change.
The leadership struggle is driven by unreliable loyalties, competing agendas, and constant suspicion among the Triad figures.
Films like Election, and why
Infernal Affairs
Hong Kong gangster cinema, intricate criminal power struggles, stylish suspense, and morally compromised characters
The Departed
organized crime hierarchy, shifting loyalties, tense factional politics, and darkly entertaining violence
Goodfellas
gangster genre, ruthless ambition, institutional corruption, and controlled urban suspense
Movie Details
- Director
- Johnnie To
- Release Date
- 2005-10-20
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (305)
Cast
- Simon Yam
- Tony Leung Ka-fai
- Louis Koo
- Nick Cheung Ka-Fai
- Gordon Lam Ka-Tung
- Cheung Siu-fai
- Lam Suet
- Wong Tin-Lam
- Tam Bing-Man
- Maggie Shiu Mei-Kei
Common questions
- What is Election about?
- Johnnie To’s sharply controlled Hong Kong gangster thriller turns a Triad succession contest into a darkly comic study of power, loyalty, and capitalist self-interest.
- What is Election like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Election as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Election violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Election as brutal.
- What did critics think of Election?
- Critics broadly regard it as a stylish, suspenseful, darkly amusing, and incisive portrait of organized crime adapting to modern capitalist self-interest.
- Which films are like Election?
- Films with a similar feel include Infernal Affairs, The Departed, and Goodfellas.
- How long is Election?
- Election runs 101 minutes.
