From Portuguese director Miguel Gomes comes this languidly immersing work of fiction, a dreamy travelogue that weaves together past and present while spanning much of Asia. It arrives on Australian screens having won Gomes the Best Director prize at Cannes in 2024.

Shot in lustrous black and white, mostly, the film (co-written by Gomes) begins in colonial Burma where the handsome Edward Abbot (Gonçalo Waddington), a minor British official (who speaks only Portuguese, by the way), nervously awaits the arrival of the ship carrying his fiancée, Molly (Crista Alfaiate). 

Crista Alfaiate in Grand Tour. Image supplied

They haven’t seen each other for seven years but in that time, Edward has had second thoughts. After distributing the flowers from his welcome bouquet as Molly’s ship docks at Rangoon, he flees.

First stop: Singapore, where he meets Molly’s shady brother in Raffles Hotel and gives the impression he’s some kind of spy; then on to Bangkok, Vietnam, the Philippines and, after hitching a ride on an American warship, to Japan. Molly, who doesn’t get the message, sets off in pursuit, forcing Edward to keep moving, first to Shanghai, and...