“This provocative film offers a surprising picture of today’s China and people on the fringes of society. Despite its decadent and exploitative tone, director Zhenming Guo’s absorbing film escaped Chinese censorship and made its way to international festivals. Raw, physical and uncomfortable, it follows a poet returning to his hometown. He finds a place in moral and social decay, reflecting a part of Chinese society that has been forgotten during the country’s economic growth. Dark and full of explosive imagery, the narrative tracks the protagonist’s trauma. The film offers a shocking look at the every day, explicit sexuality and a lost generation of Chinese artists who are haunted by the events of Tiananmen Square. Through the auteur’s lens, it reveals the miserable living conditions on China’s overlooked periphery, and through a hopeless situation plunges into a darkly absurd abyss. (The film contains explicit nudity and sex.)”