A taut and wicked tale of privilege, rivalry and secrets as a middle-class family’s fate becomes intertwined with their son’s enigmatic new friend in this dark and suspenseful thriller from director Lin Jianjie. Charismatic Wei and quiet Shuo became fast friends after an accident at school. Soon Shuo is a frequent guest at Wei’s family home, but as he embeds himself deeper into their lives, cracks begin to show. The perfect family have old wounds and dark secrets that cannot stay hidden.
Brief History of a Family is directed by Lin Jianjie and weaves a web of intrigue under the umbrella of a family, diving deep into the family dynamic and then ripping it apart piece by piece from the inside out. Storytelling you don’t see as much these days, relying on a slow build up on tension as Yan Shuo (Sun Xilun) imbeds himself into the family, manipulating each member of the family but the undertones of his intentions seep through the film as it progresses.
Brief history of a Family uses China’s one child policy as its driver exploring what it means to families and its at the heart of this film. I must highlight the cinematography here its beautifully bleak at times and then uses a microscope to drill into the scenes which is just a thrill then lightening the film with a flurry of colour it plays with the canvas of film and does it so brilliantly. Brief history of a Family is a wonderful film that explores social themes and covers it with a wonderfully intense feature film that will leave you breathless.
