An Unfinished Film (2024)

In October 2019, director Xiaorui [Xiaorui Mao] announces that he still wants to finish the film he was unable to finish 10 years ago due to budget problems. He manages to convince his crew and lead actors Jiang Cheng [Hao Qin] and Tang [Songwen Zhang] to finish the film in January 2020 in Wuhan in the run-up to the Chinese New Year. On day 1, there is only a vague rumor about a virus and everyone continues with their work. When a crew member from Wuhan is ordered to leave, everything goes into overdrive and we get a sense of the chaos that arose in the epicentre of the Covid pandemic and the impact it had on unsuspecting citizens. A unique perspective on the largest international crisis (up to then) of the 21st century in which Lou cleverly and effectively interweaves staging with authentic footage. An excellent example of faction.

Translated from Dutch · View original

Disappointment. I had hoped to see a film like United 93 or more recently September5, in which the moment of that time was relived from the characters' perspective. That does tend to happen, certainly after about half an hour, but also because of the documentary style that is used. However, the film then mainly degenerates into a document of someone's own experience of being locked up in a hotel. In that respect, the film disappoints.

Now I can't disapprove of a film for what it isn't (become) but for what it is. And that too is a huge disappointment. The beginning is already a bit slow and long-winded, especially since the characters themselves don't really come to life. The entire structure and setup are quite nicely thought out and can serve as a framework, but what was shown further didn't interest me at all. Except for a few moments. But those endless scenes in the hotel room are completely uninteresting and above all boring. Visually there's also little to experience despite some playing with split screens and telephones in the picture. 1.5*

Translated from Dutch · View original