<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> £ 2,001,168 </Td> </Tr> <P> Hector and the Search for Happiness is a 2014 British - German - Canadian comedy - drama film directed by Peter Chelsom and co-written with Tinker Lindsay and Maria von Heland, based on François Lelord's novel of the same name . The film stars Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike . </P> <P> Hector is a quirky psychiatrist who has become increasingly tired of his humdrum life . He tells his girlfriend, Clara, that he needs to go on a journey to research happiness . On a flight to China, he is seated next to Edward, a cranky businessman . Edward takes Hector to a very exclusive nightclub in Shanghai, where Hector meets a young woman named Ying Li and instantly falls for her . </P> <P> He asks to meet Ying Li's family . She declines, ashamed of how she makes her living . Their date is interrupted by her pimp, who takes Ying Li away by force . Hector then ventures into the mountains and visits a monastery, where he befriends their leader and talks briefly with Clara via Skype . </P>

Hector's journey or the search for happiness