User reviews

When the daughter of a wealthy businessman is kidnapped from his home, the police (Yihong Duan) are called just as the felons demand $100 millions as a ransom. "Zheng Bingrui" (Yang Xiao) has little faith in the authorities so decides to pay, and to follow the instructions for delivery he's getting over the phone. The girl's teacher "Li Huiping" (Liya Tong) feels partially responsible and insists on accompanying him. With cameras, trackers and microphones almost everywhere, we now follow their frankly rather preposterous journey and along the way learn a little about just what is motivating the criminals to persecute this outwardly upstanding citizen. There is plenty of action at the start, and as the underlying story starts to evolve, the plot becomes quite sophisticated in it's search for explanations and revenge, but sadly the acting isn't up to much and it really does lose it's way as it heads to a denouement that I found rather a convoluted cop out. There is one scene, incidental to most of the actual plot, that I did find subtly harrowing. A young lad is innocently bouncing up and down in his new light-up shoes whilst his mum fills out some forms at a nearby counter. Then he's gone. A victims of child kidnappers who will hope to sell him to wealthy "westerners" for up to $50,000! That's the punchy message that this film does deliver. It showcases the abhorrently profitable practice of trafficking in young children and the lengths to which parents will go, in anger and despair, to find them and or to avenge this epitome of cruelty as well as those to which the perpetrators will go regardless of the misery they cause. The octopus analogy makes sense at the end but it hasn't anywhere near the focus of something like "The Sound of Freedom" from last year. It's still worth a watch, though.

A total mess from start to finish. Feels like the script was pieced together by an AI trained on popular Chinese thrillers like Lost in the Stars and No More Bets, following every cliché in the "viral hit" playbook.

The plot is painfully contrived, and the performances are awkward at best - Duan Yihong seems like he's stuck in a stage play, while the leads have zero chemistry and often look like they wandered in from a spoof.

The editing is chaotic, the sound design over-the-top, and the score is so desperate to create tension that it becomes irritating. By the end, you're left wondering if this was meant to be taken seriously or if it's just an elaborate prank.

Understood, the plot is intense and thrilling, revolving around a bizarre kidnapping case. The plot is full of twists and turns, full of surprises, and the ending cannot be guessed without seeing the end! The actors' performances were truly outstanding, portraying the characters with great depth. Especially Xiao Yang's inner struggles, pain, and despair are vividly portrayed, and the multi line narrative technique makes the story more rich and fascinating. Every detail is full of suspense, and the visual style of the film also adds a lot of color to it, enhancing the tense atmosphere. In addition, the movie also touches on the social issue of child trafficking. Overall, it is a tense and exciting crime movie with many twists and turns!