VANISHING POINT (消失的人) (2026)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Cheng Wei Hao
Cast: Kai Zheng, HaoCun Liu, Roy Chiu
Runtime: 2 hr 20 mins
Rating: M18 (Violence and Some Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 July 2026
Synopsis: In a mahjong parlour, Yan Wu is given a final ultimatum by the boss—he must repay the 30,000 yuan he owes as soon as possible. With no other choice, Yan Wu turns to his father for help, but the conversation ends in a bitter argument. Moments later, when Yan Wu returns to the living room, he finds that his father has died from a sudden heart attack. Stunned and disoriented, Yan Wu chooses not to call the police. Instead, in order to keep his father’s pension, he decides to hide the body.
Elsewhere, early the next morning, Tang Yu pulls up to the building, waiting for his son Xiao Nuoto come down so he can drive him to school. As he listens to the radio, he briefly zones out. After few minutes, he asks his wife why Xiao Nuo hasn‘t come down yet. But she replies that their son already left. They search the entire building—Xiao Nuo is nowhere to be found. Xiao Nuo is missing.
In another scene, Yutong sits in her brother’s car, discussing about her rent. Her brother reflects on how quickly time has passed. A seemingly offhand comment catches Yutong’s attention—she asks if he’s been secretly investigating all along. He hesitates, then nods. Yutong recalls something that happened four months ago: she had woken up from sleep to find she had been assaulted. But the perpetrator still hasn’t been identified.
Three seemingly unrelated incidents, all occurring in the same building, ultimately converge into an unimaginable conclusio.
Movie Review:
The box-office success of ‘Sheep Without a Shepherd’ demonstrates not just that there is an appetite for socially conscious crime thrillers amongst Chinese audiences, but also that there is a tolerance among the Chinese censors for violent fare that ensures that no one is ultimately above the (Chinese) law. ‘Vanishing Point’, a runway box-office hit in China from the recent May Day holiday, follows a similar playbook – it spins an elaborate whodunnit, is not afraid to indulge in sometimes flinching bouts of violence, and uses the mystery to hold a mirror to certain socially resonant aspects of Chinese society.
Director-writer Cheng Wei-hao chooses the mega-city of Chongqing as the backdrop for his thriller, and those who have been there will agree that it is an excellent choice of location. Because of the steep, mountainous terrain, Chongqing has been built up as a labyrinth maze of high-rise apartment buildings connected to one another via elevated walkways. The roads are another marvel, with overlapping multi-layer expressways and massive overpasses that rise up to 12 storeys high. It is no coincidence that there are multiple shots of the Chongqing cityscape throughout the movie, and it is also not hard to guess that it is intended to be reflective of the intricacy of the three narratives that comprise Cheng’s equally labyrinth plotting.
The first of these is centred on Yan (Roy Chiu), a compulsive gambler who has just moved into a rented apartment with his father (Qi Zhang) after the latter had to sell off his house to pay off Yan’s debts. Following a heated argument over Yan’s recalcitrant gambling habit, his father has a heart attack and dies on the spot. Instead of calling the police to report his father’s death, Yan decides to conceal it in order to continue claiming his father’s pension.
The owner of this rented apartment is Lin Yutong (Liu Haocun), a young female tech company employee who had been sexually assaulted in her sleep in that very apartment some months ago. Yutong’s search for the masked assailant is the next of the three narratives, which also draws in her doctor brother Wenzhao (Li Chen) as well as her fellow employee Jun (Bi Wenjun) whom she has a crush on.
And last but not least, there is the mysterious disappearance of an eight-year-old autistic boy one morning, who supposedly makes his way from his apartment to his father Tang Yu (Cheng Kai) waiting downstairs in the car but never shows. The said boy Tang Nuo’s disappearance implicates a secondary school girl Yingying (Feng Xueya) in the same housing estate, whom Tang Nuo is close to and who helps him out with his homework. Suspicion also falls on Yingying’s father Yan Wu (Roy Chiu), on whose clothes the police find Tang Nuo’s nametag from school.
To say that all three incidents are ultimately related is stating the obvious, so what really matters is just how they are connected to one another. Over the course of almost two and a half hours, Cheng keeps you in suspense over who did what to whom – and to his credit, he doesn’t pull a deus ex machina at the end just to tie all the pieces together; instead, he plays with time and space to eventually join the dots. That said, it does require some patience on your part, because rather than let the plot drive the film, Cheng lets his characters breathe and develop along the way; in particular, he uses Tang Nuo’s story to cast a spotlight on the social stigma of autism, and how their families therefore try to conceal their child’s condition in order that they not be ostracised.
As with most such whodunits, ‘Vanishing Point’ also requires some degree of suspension of disbelief, especially with the inevitable reliance on unlikely coincidences. Still, both the journey and the payoff are largely satisfying in their own right, and the performances credible enough to carry the story through from start to finish. This is the cinematic equivalent of a potboiler, and if you’re in the moos for a good mystery, you will still find this a captivating watch worth your while.
Movie Rating:
(A gripping, socially conscious Chinese whodunnit that rewards patience with intricate plotting, strong atmosphere, and a satisfying payoff)
Review by Gabriel Chong
