Under the Light () is a 2023 Chinese crime drama film directed by Zhang Yimou. It tells the story of police officer Su Jianming (Lei Jiayin) and Li Huilin (Zhou Dongyu) as they join forces to investigate a criminal case connected to the local wealthy businessman Li Zhitian (Yu Hewei). The film was released in theaters in China on September 28, 2023.
Plot To investigate the truth behind a bus explosion case, Su Jianming defies the warnings of his powerful and influential father, Zheng Gang, and rushes to attend a banquet hosted by wealthy businessman Li Zhitian. There, Su witnesses Li's brazen and cruel display of power, which includes humiliating others and plunging his hand into a boiling hotpot. As the night unfolds, shocking clues gradually surface: a corpse hidden in a wall, a deadly assault with a wrench, and the under-the-table transfer of nearly ten billion yuan.
Cast Lei Jiayin as Su Jianming Zhang Guoli as Zheng Gang Yu Hewei as Li Zhitian Zhou Dongyu as Li Huilin Sun Yizhou as David Li Naiwen as Liu Feng Xu Yajun as Liu Bo Tian Yu as Tang Danian Xu Zili as Sun Heyang He Zhengjun as Wen Hui Chen Daoming as Chen Weimin Joan Chen as He Xiuli Wang Xun
Production
The film's original literal title is Black Hole. Casting began in May 2019 at the Meishi Film Academy of Chongqing University. Filming officially started later that same month and wrapped in September of the same year.
The film also marked the second collaboration between Zhang Yimou and Zhou Dongyu since her breakthrough film Under the Hawthorn Tree thirteen years prior.
Release Produced by Beijing Enlight Pictures and Beijing Hanli Film, the trailer was released on June 8, 2020.
Originally scheduled for release in 2020, the film underwent multiple rounds of edits, reshoots, and redubbing (the original version was filmed in the Chongqing dialect) because its storyline was suspected to be loosely based on Bo Xilai, the former mayor of Chongqing, and Wang Lijun, the former police chief of the city. It was later scheduled for release on September 28, 2023, during the National Day holiday release window.
Reception John Berra of Screen International gave the film a mixed review, praising Zhang Yimou's direction while noting that the screenplay's numerous plotlines and machinations made the story difficult to follow.
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