Zhou Xun [Photo provided to China Daily]

Hong Kong director Ann Hui's period drama Our Time Will Come tops a national investigation as the most satisfying domestic movie this year, according to a recent report.

The movie, about the evacuation of Chinese intellectuals from the Japanese-occupied Hong Kong in 1940, won 83.6 points out of 100 in a report jointly released by China Film Archive and the entertainment researcher Entgroup on July 3.

Raking in 20 million yuan ($3 million) on its premiere day of July 1, the feature scores a new high of the first-day box office receipts of Hui, who turns 70 this year.

Award-wining veteran actress Zhou Xun alongside Taiwan actors Wallace Huo and Eddie Peng lead star the movie, which is also a tribute to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

Hui says the movie realizes her longtime dream to film a story about ordinary people-transformed heroes in the wartime Hong Kong in 1940s, during a recent promotional event.