The most anticipated social suspense film of the summer of 2025, "Malice", held a viewing event in Shanghai on June 19. This screening was also the first screening of the film nationwide. Screenwriter and producer Chen Sicheng, directors Lai Mukuan and Yao Wenyi, and producer Lai Weijia had face-to-face exchanges with the audience about "Malice" after the screening. The film, starring Zhang Xiaofei, will be released nationwide on July 5.
Poster of Malice
The film "Malice" revolves around a double fall from a building in Binjiang Third Hospital. Veteran media person Ye Pan (played by Zhang Xiaofei) attempts to find the truth, but her report triggers public opinion and the situation gradually gets out of control. The film's progressive and reversal suspenseful atmosphere and dramatic plot advancement continue the consistent strong emotions and plots of Chen Sicheng's series of works, and the thinking about online violence and traffic supremacy also received a lot of praise on the scene.
From left: Chen Sicheng, Lai Mukuan, Yao Wenyi, Lai Weijia
The film pushes different characters into the eye of the storm of public opinion through the layers of reversals in a falling case. They are "perpetrators" in the last second and "victims" in the next second. The public and the times are like an invisible wave, becoming the most important driving force for the development of the plot.
Director Yao Wenyi revealed the difficulty of this creation in his speech - "There is no specific villain", "In fact, this is our torture in this era of information explosion. We hope to convey to the audience through this film: 'Don't be the last straw that breaks the camel's back'."
The story mainly revolves around several female characters. Producer Lai Weijia shared some interesting stories behind the scenes as a female creator: "Because most of our protagonists are women, we added some female planners and screenwriters, adding different perspectives. Everyone is very excited about this subject. I think this story and subject are different from the past. We used a suspenseful narrative method, but the underlying logic is a very profound realistic subject."
Director Lai Mukuan joked that he was usually just a "spectator", so creating the movie "Malice" made him feel particularly immersed, and he especially hoped to bring more strength to the audience: "I am also an ordinary person. I hope to have the opportunity to let the audience "see" their emotions in the cinema after July 5, so that they can feel that even if the Internet is full of malice, they can get out of it. This is my original intention."
There is a line in the movie where Chen Sicheng confessed to the audience, "This is actually what I really think." "'No one can really stand up to the scrutiny of the Internet's magnifying glass.' We should not avoid all the natural flaws of human beings. I think the most important thing for literary and artistic works is to magnify the divinity of human beings, to magnify the warmth and beauty, so that the world can become better. This is also the only weak force that we literary and artistic creators or filmmakers can contribute."
The film also invited many important guests to watch the first screening. Liu Cixin, the author of "The Three-Body Problem", also came to the screening. He said frankly: "I enjoyed watching this movie very much. It is a very good movie. As a science fiction writer, I am optimistic about the future. I believe that with the development of society and technology, facing the impact of information technology, society will be able to adapt and reach a new balance. At the same time, many of our traditional things, even moral and value things, may have to be redefined by technology. Only in this way can we survive the impact of technology. I believe that in the future, when we look back at such a movie, we may have new, more profound feelings."
There were also many self-media practitioners at the scene who had also suffered from online violence. They affirmed the significance of the film from their own experiences and expressed their resonance with the content of the film. Chen Sicheng responded, "We tell all kinds of stories and use the method of genre films. The most important thing is to convey kindness and goodwill." Although the title of the film is "Malice", he hopes that this is "the most kind-hearted movie."
