Brief History Of A Family
Suspenseful psychological thriller about the fate of a wealthy Chinese family that becomes entangled with the enigmatic new boyfriend of their only teenage son.
After an incident at their high school, the outgoing Wei, only son of a well-off Chinese family, and Shuo, his quiet but perceptive classmate, become closer. A mysterious energy seems to connect the two, drawing them into each other’s lives. Wei soon introduces his new friend to his father, a cell biologist, and his mother, a former flight attendant. Learning that Shuo comes from a troubled background, Wei’s parents encourage this boy with an enigmatic charm to spend more time in their home. As Shuo integrates himself more and more into the family, he gradually discovers that their comfortable existence is shadowed by unspoken secrets, unmet expectations and suppressed emotions.
In his strongly stylised feature debut, Jianjie Lin explores class divisions and the fragile foundations of modern Chinese family life. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where comparisons were made to The Talented Mr. Ripley and Parasite due to the theme of outsider infiltration and shifting power dynamics. (source: www.berlinale.de, adapted)