An Ode to Female Resilience, ‘Trapped,’ and Murder-for-Profit: The Chinese Competition Films at Beijing

The 15th edition of the Beijing International Film Festival kicks off on Friday, and its competition lineup of 15 titles includes three homegrown Chinese movies.

Chinese actor-director Jiang Wen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Let the Bullets Fly) will serve as the head of the main competition jury that will hand out the fest’s Tiantan Awards.

Here is THR‘s closer look at the three Chinese films in this year’s Beijing competition program.

Hao Ming and Li Peiran’s Better Me, Better You
Executive producer and actress Ma Li stars as Bai Liping in the drama Better Me, Better You, described as an ode to female resilience.

The star plays a caregiver from Northeastern China who leaves a life of domestic violence behind “to seek a better life in the city, only to face repeated setbacks.” In Beijing, she meets a lonely elderly woman called Tang Shuyin, portrayed by Zhao Shuzhen. “Initially clashing over their differences, the two gradually forge an unbreakable bond – blending maternal-filial tenderness with soul-deep friendship,” according to a synopsis of the film.

Audiences can expect a heart-warming story. After all, the two women’s “relationship evolves from conflicting world views to profound mutual support,” highlights the Beijing festival.

Sagara’s Trapped
“A gang of lunatics, a gust of sand, and a pile of money collide under the threat of an approaching storm.” So reads the synopsis for thriller Trapped from first-time director Sagara.

“Keep the windows and doors closed, stay quiet, and hold still!” it warns. “In a remote border town, 44 heavily armed bandits, who were after both money and lives, suddenly launched a raid. The entire town was plunged into a desperate situation with no fuel and no communication. There were only three police officers and a single gun in the town.”

Police officer “Night Owl” Xia Ran, played by Bai Ke, is forced into a life-or-death showdown with the escaped gang leader Beishan (Xin Baiqing) and his gang that is facing internal conflicts.

Li Yongyi’s Deep in the Mountains

Are you ready for an absurdist crime thriller with comedic elements? Then head to a place Deep in the Mountains!

“In the early 1990s, a small-town checkpoint officer, Yao Sichen, becomes entangled in a missing truck case,” reads the movie’s synopsis. “To clear up the case, he spares no effort in investigating in Maniao River Village, dealing with the truck driver Yang Zhaowei and his daughter Yang Ge, village chief Zhang Changchun, security chief Chen Yongjin, Yan Xue, and the serial killer Ge Wenyong.”

Can he ultimately clear up a string of murder-for-profit crimes? Editing veteran Li Yongyi’s directorial debut sounds like it will keep you guessing.