This film is part of Rentals

The Receptionist
A Taiwanese graduate begins work at a massage parlour, in this illuminating and authentic depiction of the migrant experience at London's margins.
Director: Jenny Lu
Overview
Unable to find a job, Tina (Teresa Daley), a Taiwanese graduate living in London, starts working in an illegal massage parlour as a receptionist. As she gradually comes to know the women in this most dysfunctional of artificial families, where sex lies at the core of everything, she sees how they struggle to find a way to make their lives work, amid an undercurrent of violence and palpable danger.
Writer-director Jenny Lu based her pertinent script on the experiences of real-life subjects, lending her film an authentic, documentary-like power. Her debut feature gained a prize at the Asian American International Film Festival and it's an illuminating and vital depiction of the migrant experience at London's margins.
Related

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Drama 2019 109 mins Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
A city-loving teacher struggling for inspiration travels to the most remote school in the world in this quietly majestic Academy Award-nominated drama.

Parthenope Parthenope
Drama 2024 136 mins Director: Paolo Sorrentino
An alluring young woman seeks a deeper sense of purpose after a tragedy, in Paolo Sorrentino’s deeply romantic epic.

It's Raining Men It's Raining Men
Comedy 2023 123 mins Director: Caroline Vignal
Iris (Laure Calamy) disrupts her bourgeois routine by joining a dating app and embarking on an amusing, sensual quest for identity and lost desire.

The Penguin Lessons The Penguin Lessons
Drama 2025 112 mins Director: Peter Cattaneo
Steve Coogan is superb as a disillusioned teacher whose life is turned upside-down when he rescues a penguin in turbulent 1970s Argentina.

Cloud Cloud
Drama 2024 124 mins Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
An online scam leads to deadly consequences in Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s chilling tech thriller.

La Cocina La Cocina
Drama 2024 139 mins Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Tensions rise in a frenzied New York diner, in this loose reworking of Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play.

The Flame of Love The Flame of Love
Melodrama 1930 75 mins Director: Richard Eichberg and Walter Summers
Chinese-American star Anna May Wong dazzles as a Chinese dancer forced to give herself to a Russian General in order to save her brother.

Piccadilly Piccadilly
Crime 1929 109 mins Silent Director: E.A. Dupont
The glitter of Jazz Age clubland meets the Far East (of London) in this stunningly restored silent classic, starring Anna May Wong.

Lilting Lilting
Drama 2014 86 mins Director: Hong Khaou
Ben Whishaw stars in an intimate portrait of two strangers brought together by the common language of grief.

We Went to Wonderland We Went to Wonderland
Documentary 2008 72 mins Director: Xiaolu Guo
British-Chinese filmmaker Xiaolu Guo follows her ageing parents' journey to the West as they visit Europe. A rare chance to see one of Guo’s most personal films.

Ping Pong Ping Pong
Comedy 1987 100 mins Director: Leong Po-Chih
A young lawyer has to execute the will of a Chinese man found dead in a phone box in a witty comic thriller - the first British-Chinese feature film.

Soursweet Soursweet
Drama 1989 111 mins Director: Mike Newell
Hong Kong newlyweds seek a fresh start in 60s Britain, but fall foul of the Triad underworld in this adaptation of Timothy Mo's blackly comic novel.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Drama 2019 109 mins Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
A city-loving teacher struggling for inspiration travels to the most remote school in the world in this quietly majestic Academy Award-nominated drama.

Parthenope Parthenope
Drama 2024 136 mins Director: Paolo Sorrentino
An alluring young woman seeks a deeper sense of purpose after a tragedy, in Paolo Sorrentino’s deeply romantic epic.

One to One: John & Yoko One to One: John & Yoko
Documentary 2024 101 mins Director: Kevin Macdonald
Kevin Macdonald’s essential record of the former Beatle’s final full-length performance is a fascinating portrait of two artists in a state of flux.

It's Raining Men It's Raining Men
Comedy 2023 123 mins Director: Caroline Vignal
Iris (Laure Calamy) disrupts her bourgeois routine by joining a dating app and embarking on an amusing, sensual quest for identity and lost desire.

A New Kind of Wilderness A New Kind of Wilderness
Documentary 2023 84 mins Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
A tragedy shatters the idyllic world of a family living off-grid in the Norwegian wilderness.

Riefenstahl Riefenstahl
Documentary 2024 115 mins Director: Andreas Veiel
Captivating insight into the controversial filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who became world-famous for her Nazi propaganda.