Jia Zhangke’s real-life inspired film made out of four overlapping stories depicting individuals driven to bloody acts by grim social realities.

For decades, director Jia Zhangke (Still Life, 24-City) has provided some of the most illuminating accounts of daily life in contemporary China. This latest film powerfully underscors the dehumanising aspects of new urban environments. 

Beginning in a small village in Shanxi province, Jia takes us on a tour of the country, taking in the cities of Yichang in central China; Chongqing, an emerging megacity; and Dongguan, China’s ‘sin city’, an important manufacturing centre and Mecca for migrant workers, known for its thriving sex industry.