A Distant House Smokes on the Horizon

Directed by Zhu Shengze

A stifling summer day. A small town in China, where everything feels stagnant. Middle school dropouts Cheng (14), Zhang(14), and Li(13), each burdened by their own troubles, hatch a plan to escape the town. Broke and desperate, they wander around the streets, looking for ways to "make money." Eventually, they set out on a reckless robbery, and what begins as an ordinary day ends violently... The film follows them through this oppressive day, delving into the dark corners of adolescence. Their acts are brutal, yet they themselves are brutalized by a world indifferent to their struggles.