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‘The Unseen Sister’ Review: Beijing-Set Tale of Sisters Separated for 17 Years Comes Home Strongly After a Slowish Start
The most mainstream film yet by 'Nina Wu' director Midi Z is a feminist crime drama that misses a few beats but hits the targets that count.
Interestingly, several of his credits on the end roll appear as “Midi Z, (Taiwan, China).” Though most of “Sister” takes place in Beijing, the emotional center of the story is located in Yunnan province on the border with Myanmar, long a hotspot for human trafficking and other criminal activities. Continuing themes addressed with great anger and ferocity in Midi Z’s previous narrative feature “Nina Wu,” Yan finds the strength to reject being shoved in front of lecherous financial backers by Shen (the calm, smiling face of insidious coercive control, if ever there was one) and becoming part of his plan to make a fortune on the stock market. Sister’s realization that Liang doesn’t deserve her blind loyalty and the birth of her baby adds considerable heft to the tale, with questions over the newborn’s identity and uncertain future triggering a compelling series of life-changing events.
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