This strident and heavy-handed Mandarin-language drama imagines a collage of stories unfolding in Wuhan as the first, terrible wave of the pandemic broke. A husband and wife, both medics, reunite in their car each night where they snatch a few hours of sleep between shifts; their daughter, alone with her piano in their apartment, bickers with the neighbours. A selfless building manager, responsible for distributing supplies to the quarantined residents, starts to cough.
Even if it were less mawkish and manipulative in approach, it’s hard to imagine that many people would choose to watch this film right now.
