Xiang fei de nü hai

"Girls on Wire" (2025), directed by Vivian Qu, is a Chinese crime melodrama that intertwines themes of family bonds, the perilous world of stunt work, and the underbelly of gangster capitalism.

The lead characters, Fang Di and Tian Tian, are cousins who are opposing in their personality and demeanor. However, their strength and resilience in face of their difficult circumstances highlight the courage that they both possess. Both characters get involved with the criminal underworld, and are willing to put their life on the line because they want to protect their loved ones.

The somber elements of the film weigh heavy throughout the film; the perils of drug addiction, the failures from chasing your ambitions, generational trauma. The fractured household leaves devastating consequences that the two main characters have to deal with. They are dealt a bad hand yet fight for their own survival.

Director Vivian Qu serves up a well-crafted examination of what happens to two cousins, Tian Tian and Fang Di, who grow up in the time of China's One Child Policy as well as its freewheeling economic expansion. With one cousin's mother toiling away at growing the family garment manufacturing business, the other watches her father descend into addiction. In adulthood, one cousin is a risk taker in her work as a stunt double in wuxia films, sending money home to pay family debts. The other takes risks that leave her a single parent subject to exploitation by thugs who are partly drug lords and partly loan sharks. As the film progresses and we also experience flashbacks that let the audience understand the shared experiences of these two women who address each other as "sister". In addition to an exploration of a modern, woman-to-woman version of Confucian filial piety, i.e. Sisterhood, we are also treated to various suspenseful and comical episodes among the all-male gangsters. We in the audience are left to confront whether the cousins can recover the close bonds of their youth, whether they can escape the criminals in pursuit of Tian Tian, and whether dreams can come true in real life as they do in the movies.

Girls on Wire is a must-see motion picture for any movie-goer wanting to experience an ultra-realistic story about the grind of surviving while impoverished under China's one-child policy. Director Vivian Qu manages to seamlessly blend tension with comedy in a tale that runs the gamut of human emotion. As a huge fan of genre-bending cinema and time-hopping narratives, this film was an absolute spectacle that kept me in awe from start to finish. The stunning cinematography and snappy editing combined with the down-to-earth performances of every actress and actor put this two-hour extravaganza about familial connection and the pursuit of ambition among the greatest East Asian movies that I've ever experienced. Having also been captivated by Angels Wear White, I can say that I am beyond blessed to be witnessing these masterful works of a legendary cineaste.

Girls On Wire is one of the best Chinese movies I've seen. It studies the struggles of underprivileged girls and young women growing up in the 1980's and the impact years later. The movie is moody, entertaining and full of surprises. With the restrictions and limitations in China, director Qu made bold moves by exposing social problems with dark tones peppered with comical elements. In addition to her signature neo-noir style, she stepped into the genre of comedy, the martial arts film industry, and the factory of dreams all based on real events. The movie has good balance of art forms. The flashbacks come at the appropriate times to explain the sisters' relationship in the past. It flows together naturally. The pace is excellent to provide intense moments and relaxing breaks. It keeps audiences on their toes to find out the sisters' fate.

I truly enjoyed this film and would like to see more such Chinese films with diversified themes and styles.

Vivian Qu's neo-noir style drama offers an interesting tale of the modern social problems and commentary of China, blended with interesting themes, great camerawork, and strong performances from the cast members.

Having enjoyed Qu's previous works, her direction maintaining the movie's atmosphere, the camerawork and the setting is pretty consistent and strong. It offers a good insight of the surroundings, the commentaries of social problems, and the neo-noir elements to settle in well. Alongside with good production, camerawork, and color presentations, the performances from Liu Haocun and Wen Qi are both pretty good as both have an awkward but purposeful chemistry between their characters.

On the writing, there are some issues with the story as despite some strong elements, the writing does fall into the cliche neo-noir thrillers at times which makes the movie struggle with some pacing issues, and the characters didn't feel as emotionally investing as the movie thinks it does. Especially with certain dialogue moments that felt somewhat off-putting and out of place.

Overall, it's another decent Chinese art-house movie that has a good ambitious tone but it's likely not going to be well-remembered by anyone.