From a nation envied by crime-weary Americans for its Orwellian order, it seems only apt that Singapore's surface infallibility is scratched sharply by its first credible production in decades. The despondent title character sells noodles on the seamier side of town, where luscious Bunny and her fellow hookers hang out while awaiting their beeper calls, summoning them to their next clients. Each alienated by survivalist ideology, the pair of outsiders eventually connect in a surprisingly tender turn of events as Mee Pok Man finds Bunny unconscious after a hit-and-run. Undaunted by the paucity of government support for local filmmaking, director Eric Khoo displays a mastery of visual urgency and static tension in the evocative still-life images of his debut feature. The film's conclusion could be overly disturbing for some, but ultimately it is Khoo's lack of compromise that will leave the more profound impression.-Yuen Ping Lo