Film scholars routinely approach Johnny To's films in relation to film noir conventions. Running on Karma (2003, co-directed with Wai Ka-fai), however, at first glance, may not appear to fit the noir portion of the director's oeuvre. The film is a generic hybrid that moves from dark comedy to horror and from the supernatural thriller to the improbable romance. However, when viewed in the context of the rest of To's work, as well as within the framework of his production company Milkyway Image and his other collaborations with Wai Ka-fai, a certain insistent stylistic consistency emerges that resonates with noir. Chiaroscuro shadows faces within the mise-en-scène; the cityscape of Hong Kong appears in murky darkness punctuated by the neon of nightclub signs and the glare of police-car lights; exteriors outside the city take on the quality of dreamscapes displaced from the daylight by the low-key gloom of memory. Images materialise, as the theme of karmic return implies, ‘out of the past’, and, as in film noir generally, the characters shoulder this burden of history (social, cultural, political and personal). The bare outline of the film's plot, however, does not immediately connect it to the hard-boiled detectives, alluring femmes fatales, persistent pessimism and sinister ambience usually associated with noir. A former Buddhist monk from Mainland China turned bodybuilder/male stripper (played by Andy Lau in a muscle suit), who can ‘see’ the past lives of people he encounters, comes to the aid of a Hong Kong policewoman, Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung), who suffers from very ‘bad karma’. Although the film does deal with crime investigations, the noir connection to this story seems strained, at best. Its supernatural elements and bloody murders draw it closer, in fact, to the horror film, and its carefully choreographed martial arts sequences, including a balletic demonstration of martial artistry using a Kleenex, links it to the wuxia pian. Moreover, Running on Karma also falls into the romantic comedy mould of an earlier teaming of Johnnie To–Wai Ka-fai and Andy Lau, Love on a Diet (2001), in which Lau performs in a fat suit rather than a muscle suit opposite Sammi Cheng instead of Cecilia Cheung.