Only the River Flows

Name: Only the River Flows
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: July 26, 2024
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 70

2024

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Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Kimstim Films | Release Date: July 26, 2024 | Not Rated

Summary: 1990s small town China. A woman’s body washes up in the local river. The chief of police, Ma Zhe, is tasked with heading up the investigation. An obvious perp leads to a hasty arrest, though the mystery lingers in Ma Zhe’s mind. What kind of darkness is truly at play here?

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 101 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Chris Knight

Jul 31, 2024

Only the River Flows — based on the novel Mistakes by the River by Yu Hua — runs a tight 102 minutes but crams a lot of atmosphere into that time, moments of high drama interspersed with bizarre humour. Read full review

The Film Stage Gabrielle Marceau

Jul 26, 2024

Shujun has built a compelling, evocative mystery that maintains its enigmatic, unfinished feeling even after the higher-ups have closed the case and patted themselves on the back. Read full review

Josh Slater-Williams

Aug 22, 2024

Wei maintains a highly individual, slippery and fascinating artistic sensibility all his own. Read full review

Andrew Crump

Jul 26, 2024

Shujun’s script, co-written with Yu Hua and Kang, eschews any viewer hand-holding, keeping its messages and themes backgrounded; if there is a greater context for the film’s plot, perhaps it lies in its depiction of law enforcement in mainland China, and the toll police work takes on the people conducting it, though Western critics lacking background in contemporary Chinese social and political mores can at best only speculate at best. Read full review

Jordan Mintzer

Jul 26, 2024

Like the investigation itself, the meaning of Only the River Flows gradually finds its focus as the story progresses, leaving the viewer staring into the same abyss the detective does — an abyss that, as in any respectable film noir, stares back at him. Read full review

Steven Scaife

Jul 26, 2024

The craft brought to bear on Only the River Flows is captivating, but when it comes to matters of story, it cultivates a frustrating air of disinterest. Read full review

Zachary Barnes

Jul 25, 2024

As Only the River Flows follows its winding course, the movie seems to lose its grip not merely on the mystery but on its protagonist, becoming less psychologically penetrating and more haphazardly hallucinatory. Looking for clues, we find only the fragments of a fractured mind. Read full review

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