Known for his range and ability to traverse both mainstream movies and art-house cinema, Kelvin Tong embarked on his filmmaking journey in 1995 with Moveable Feast. The quirky short, co-directed with Jasmine Ng and Sandi Tan, about one man’s obsession with the rituals of eating, garnered a Special Mention at the 1996 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival as well as the Best Short Film Award at the 1995 Singapore International Film Festival Silver Screen Awards. Moveable Feast was the first piece of Singapore cinema to be showcased at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York. Kelvin Tong made his feature debut alongside co-director Jasmine Ng in 1999 with Eating Air, which represented Singapore extensively in numerous international film festivals. Kelvin Tong’s second feature – The Maid – was an atmospheric horror film based on the rituals and superstitions of the Chinese in Singapore. It broke box office records in Singapore and won the Asian Award at the 2006 European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation. In 2006, Kelvin Tong received Singapore’s highest national artistic award for youth – the Young Artist Award. Following The Maid, Kelvin Tong’s career took on a regional dimension. His third feature, Love Story (2006) was produced by Hong Kong screen legend Andy Lau. It took the Best Director Award at the 2006 Singapore International Film Festival and was chosen as the closing film at the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival. Kelvin Tong’s fourth feature – Rule #1 (2007) was a supernatural noir thriller shot in Hongkong. Returning to Singapore, Kelvin Tong made the thriller Kidnapper in 2009 and It’s A Great Great World in 2010.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 1, 1972 (54)
- Singapore
- Director and writer, also producer
- 4 on MovieCove · 19 credits in all
What are Kelvin Tong's films like?
Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Survival.
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 3
Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 4 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
Gentle 1 · Charged 2 · Intense 1
Steady 2 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 1
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 3 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Kelvin Tong's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Kelvin Tong's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
19 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
A Year of No Significance (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Confinement (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
A Frame In Time (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Republic of Food (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Beijing, Mumbai, Tampines (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
The Faith of Anna Waters(2016)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all films
7 Letters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Dance Dance Dragon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
It's a Great, Great World! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Robotropolis(2011)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
Kidnapper (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Rule Number One (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
Men in White (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
18 Grams of Love(2007)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Love Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
The Maid (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
1942 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Eating Air(1999)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all filmsMoveable Feast (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Career shape
A full career of 17 titles from 1996 to 2023.
How do Kelvin Tong's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 27th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 31st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
2 of their 4 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Panned1
- Cult Classic1
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 46/100 and the pacing 37/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Kelvin Tong work with?
People who share at least 2 of Kelvin Tong's MovieCove titles; Joe Ng shares the most, 2.
- Joe NgShared titles: The Faith of Anna Waters (2016), Eating Air (1999)See all 2 shared titles with Joe Ng
- Leon TongShared titles: The Faith of Anna Waters (2016), Robotropolis (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Leon Tong