As the Empress Wu Zetian (Carina Lau) is about to ascend the throne in the Tang Dynasty, a grand Buddha statue commemorating her coronation nears completion. Meanwhile, a series of self-immolation incidents takes place within the capital, causing widespread fear. Di Renjie (Andy Lau), who has been long imprisoned, is appointed as an imperial investigator to delve into the mysterious occurrences. Alongside the court official Shangguan Jing’er (Li Bingbing) and Pei Donglai (Deng Chao), Di unravels a mystery involving a deadly insect species known as the fire beetles. As the investigation progresses, Di stumbles upon a deeper conspiracy.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) received over ten nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards and marked Tsui Hark's second win for Best Director at the Awards. The film blends poetic martial arts storytelling with fantastical sci-fi elements. The impressive worldbuildingand eye-popping stunts and fight scenes in the film demonstrate Tsui Hark’s unique style, creating a visually stunning sci-fi martial arts spectacle.

Tsui Hark (b. 1951, Vietnam) spent his early years in Vietnam before moving to Hong Kong, where he completed his high school education. He then moved to the United States where he graduated from the film programme at the University of Texas at Austin. After a short spell of work in the US, he returned to Hong Kong and became a director at TVB. Later, during a brief stint at Commercial Television, he directed The Gold Dagger Romance (1978). The Butterfly Murders (1979), Tsui’s feature film directorial debut, was hailed as one of the early examples of the Hong Kong New Wave. Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980) faced censorship from the colonial government for its uncompromising vision. Tsui would break ground with Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) by introducing Hollywood special effects to the wuxia genre. For much of the 1980s, Tsui was one of the creative masterminds behind the hitmakers Cinema City.

In 1984, he and Nansun Shi founded Film Workshop, which launched with the critically acclaimed Shanghai Blues. Tsui and his company found much success in several popular long-running film series, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), The Swordsman (1990), and Once Upon a Time in China (1991). In a career spanning over four decades, Tsui has not stopped finding new ways to reinvent himself as a director, writer, and producer. His take on the wuxia genre has continued to evolve in The Blade (1995) and the Detective Dee series. His Chinese war epic, The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014), impressed audiences in China and abroad for his creative storytelling and eye for spectacle.