It could have been a four-star movie. “Murderer” is one of the most engaging and well-made local films of the past few years, and with two promising new talents behind it—director Roy Chow and screenwriter Christine To—it’s nice to finally see some young talent breaking the decades-long domination of the movie industry by the same old names. Unfortunately, the bizarre, disappointing ending of “Murderer” lets it down at the final turn, and I left the theater wishing I’d walked out just before the movie was ruined for me.

The plot is relatively simple. Accomplished police inspector Ling (two-time Golden Horse winner Aaron Kwok) is working on capturing a sadistic serial killer, who gruesomely murderers his victims by drilling holes into their bodies, when he is found unconscious with a blow to his head. Oddly, at the same time and place, his colleague is found gravely injured, having been attacked by the killer they are trying to apprehend. Suffering from amnesia, Ling can’t trust his memory—and neither can we. As he starts to lose his sanity, he starts to wonder: is he the killer?

This film is excellent for the first 105 minutes. The scenes are tight and exhilarating, the shots are crafted beautifully, and the visuals are gory yet tasteful. There are minor glitches—Ling’s boss, a very high-ranking police officer, speaks Putonghua (how politically correct), and Aaron Kwok is always a little hammy for my tastes. But all those problems trail a distant second to the preposterous plot twist at the end—which had crossed my mind halfway through the film, but I’d dismissed as being far too ridiculous. Think I’m being harsh? Put it this way, the audience burst out laughing after the big reveal. And then for the final 15 minutes, we laughed some more. Yes, “Murderer” committed suicide with its own staggeringly inane finale. And if you think it’s worth the price of the ticket alone to find out what this crazy twist is that everyone’s talking about, don’t. It’s not worth it.

2/5 Stars by Winnie Yeung.

Hong Kong. Directed by Roy Chow. Starring Aaron Kwok, Cheung Siu-fai, Janine Chang. Category IIB, 120 minutes. Continuing.