Drawing on the director's and screenwriter's own early impressions of life, this story is adapted from several real events surrounding the harsh realities of the college entrance exam. Set against the exam, it tells an absurd yet realistic story about fate and death and, from a particular angle, offers a parable of the survival ethics of ordinary people in modern China. To break through class barriers, the protagonists do things that seem unreasonable yet have their own logic. Through this, the creators want to explore what fruit the flower of utilitarianism bears on the one-way road from the family to social class, in China and around the world, and to reflect on the widespread anxiety people feel in daily life and about the college entrance exam. Although the story's surface is tragic, even somewhat cruel, it shows human concern within the sorrow; under its realist tone runs a dark absurdity. At its core it is uplifting and warm, while also tracing individual fates that are self-limited. All the characters seek recognition through deception. The story is really not about the outcome, not about gain and not about the exam. What the director hopes to convey is that whatever the adversity, we can make peace with ourselves and with our families, and that whatever our class, and whether or not we can break through it, life rolls on. This is the core theme of the film.
Adapted from a real news story, the film centers on a sudden blow to a family. On the eve of the college entrance exam, the father of Yangzi, a student retaking the exam, dies in an accident. To keep the news from upsetting her before the exam, her mother, who has high hopes for her daughter, and a group of "stand-ins" decide to keep it secret for now. Hiding their grief, they use all kinds of pretenses and white lies to conceal the father's death. But the family members and friends, all very different people, have irreconcilable conflicts and secrets of their own. This group of people of differing character and experience must set aside their tangled grudges and see the white lie through to the end. The comic cover-up is full of holes and mishaps, again and again leaving those involved on edge. They finally make it to the start of the exam, and Yangzi at last has to face her choices in life and the truth. A group of ordinary people with little connection to this family take on an impossible mission: "Bring a dead man back to life! Get Yangzi through the exam."
Genre:
Drama, Relationships, MysteryDirector:
Du HuijunExecutive Producer:
Lu ChuanScreenwriter:
Du Huixin | Du Huijun | Chen LiyuProducer:
Wang Xudong | Zhai ShaowenOn the eve of the college entrance exam, the father of Yangzi, a student retaking the exam, dies in an accident. To keep it from affecting her, her mother gets the whole family to tell all kinds of white lies to hide his death. A group of people with differing characters and interests gradually set aside their tangled conflicts in the course of this deception, and finally reconcile and face life with a positive outlook.