Only The River Flows (15)

★★★ Wei Shujun’s accomplished Chinese noir is an intriguing and ingenious thriller. ~ The Guardian.

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A gripping Chinese crime thriller, directed by Wei Shujun, "Only The River Flows" will take you on a journey into one man’s obsession with finding the truth whatever it takes.

Dedicated police detective Ma Zhe (Zhu Yilong) is assigned the case of a series of horrific murders in a rural Chinese town.

As the investigation progresses, pressure from his superiors to find the suspected serial killer mounts, leading to a hasty arrest.

But while his colleagues rush to celebrate, several clues push Ma Zhe deeper into a desperate investigation of his own – leading him into a dark world where mystery hangs over his every lead. 

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★★★★  An audacious Chinese neo-noir, Wei Shujun’s film is a surreal, disquieting work set in Nineties rural China where a tough police captain has to investigate the killing of an elderly villager. ~ The Times.

★★★★ All is not as it seems in this evocatively shot thriller improbably adapted from an experimental postmodern novel, Wei Shujun’s hit noir will keep you guessing after the final credits. ~ Irish Times.

★★★★ Fittingly, as pure cinema, Only The River Flows is a knockout: eerie and dreamlike. And, oh: it never stops raining. ~ Financial Times.

★★★★ A spellbinding nightmare. Come for the mystery, stay for the existential dread. ~ Little White Lies.