Forty-year-old Wenyao still lives in a rental room with his wife Xiaoyu, and keeps selling his book every day for rent and looks useless. On a whim, he plans to direct and shoot a video according to his book. He invites Meifeng to take a role in his video, but she edits and leaks auction fragment to the network. It makes Wenyao famous for the "hidden rule", and wins the attraction of investors. Wenyao hires amateur actors Yanzi and Mao, prepares for the opening camera. Xiaoyu learns about the "hidden rule" event and makes a scene. What can Wenyao do now?
Acting
Guo Tao's committed desperation as Wenyao is painfully watchable.
Writing
Meta-narrative about filmmaking that eats its own tail cleverly.
Director
Kiefer Liu
Guo Tao
Wen Yao
Annie Liu Xin-You
Xiao Yu
Sam Lee
Ah Mao
Cheung Tat-Ming
Land Lord
Gordon Lam Ka-Tung
Mr. Dong
Yao Chen
Yan Zi
Huang Bo
Thief
Xie Na
Mei Feng
Ying Zhuang
Zhao Xi
Li Qi
Boss of DV Shop
Wang Xun
Boss of pharmacy Factory
Niu Ben
Bus Passenger
Xiao Jian
Driver License Learner
Ling Xiaosu
Culture Inspector
Chen Chen
Pregnant Woman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'hidden rule' (潜规则) refers to China's open-secret casting couch culture—rarely mocked this directly in mainland cinema of this era.
Yao Chen later became one of China's biggest TV stars; this early role as Yanzi showed her knack for playing ambitious women in over their heads.
CN
