A 13-year-old girl deals with the issues brought about by her family's high-priced son.
Acting
Sophie Zhang's silence hits harder than any screaming.
Direction
Cao Baoping lets cruelty breathe in domestic spaces.
Writing
The dog subplot will wreck you. Trust me.
Director
Cao Baoping
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title references both the dog and the girl's brilliance—both disposable in a son-obsessed culture. Released as China's two-child policy began, it captures the last gasp of one-child trauma.
Cao Baoping based Li Wan on real students he'd met; the film was briefly censored for being 'too negative' about Chinese family dynamics before its festival run.
CN
