UNLUCKY Plaza is a Singapore story with a difference - a dark tale where writer-director Ken Kwek takes an almighty swipe at some common ills facing society, including (but not limited to) property scams, problem gambling and loan sharking, clergymen lacking moral fibre and immigrant workers disillusioned by their pursuit of the Singapore Dream. That old standby - adultery - also gets a decent look-in.

Kwek, whose previous film Sex. Violence. Family Values (2013) failed to find currency with the censorship board, seems intent on tackling material that won't make it into any commemorative SG50 yearbook.

Instead, he focuses on a much less crowded (and infinitely more interesting) field, one in which desperate people are forced by circumstances into doing desperate things.