Jia ting jian shi

Lin Jainjie’s ice-cold debut feature is the story of Yan Shuo (Sun Xilun), a sullen underclass loner who becomes friends with his somewhat well-to-do classmate Tu Wei (Lin Muran). When Shuo and Wei meet at school following an accident during gym class, the quiet, awkward Shuo begins to insinuate himself into Wei’s family. As he lives alone with an abusive, alcoholic father, Wei’s parents gradually begin to feel protective towards him. 
A virtual blank slate, Shuo is the perfect screen on to which the couple can project their desires. Mrs. Tu (Guo Keyu), a former flight attendant, feels that her youth and beauty have slipped away from her, while Mr. Tu (Zu Feng) is a microbiologist who cannot inspire any sort of work ethic in his own son. In the aftermath of Mao’s disastrous one-child policy, relations between parents and children are hopelessly warped, and Lin here ofers a stark, pessimistic inquest of the contemporary Chinese family. When a broken brood looks outside itself for that one missing piece, that one stray soul who could repair the family unit, the result is even greater disarray. (Michael Sicinski)

Lin Jianjie: A VISI (2015, K), GU (2017, K)