Prime VideoOnly the River Flows (2023)
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Center
Viewer Rating
Rating: 7.1
Overview
1990s, Banpo Town, rural China. A woman's body is found by the river. Ma Zhe, Chief of the Criminal Police, heads up the murder investigation that leads to an obvious arrest. His superiors hurry to congratulate him, but several clues push Ma Zhe to delve deeper into the hidden behaviour of his fellow citizens.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Prime VideoBias Dimensions
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Negative
Overview
1990s, Banpo Town, rural China. A woman's body is found by the river. Ma Zhe, Chief of the Criminal Police, heads up the murder investigation that leads to an obvious arrest. His superiors hurry to congratulate him, but several clues push Ma Zhe to delve deeper into the hidden behaviour of his fellow citizens.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Prime VideoDetailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Center
Primary
The film subtly critiques authoritarian state control and bureaucratic pressures, exploring the individual's struggle and moral ambiguity within a rapidly changing society, aligning with left-leaning concerns about state power and individual freedom.
The film explores themes of marginalization, identity, and systemic oppression through its portrayal of characters with disabilities and gender non-conformity within a 1990s rural Chinese context. It offers a nuanced, indirect critique of an oppressive social system and its impact on individuals, resonating with DEI concerns without being explicitly designed as a DEI-focused film.
Secondary
Only the River Flows depicts LGBTQ+ characters as marginalized and stigmatized, becoming targets of suspicion and scapegoating in a murder investigation. Their identities are a source of societal misunderstanding and vulnerability, serving to highlight broader themes of prejudice, social exclusion, and institutional failure to protect vulnerable populations in 1990s rural China. The portrayal emphasizes their alienation within a bleak social environment.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
The provided information states there are no characters in "Only the River Flows" whose on-screen gender differs from their established gender in source material or historical record. A character's cross-dressing is explicitly noted as a behavioral portrayal, not a gender swap.
The film's casting maintains ethnic and phenotypical authenticity, with all major characters portrayed by ethnically Chinese actors whose appearances align with the source novella and the 1990s rural Chinese setting. No characters established as one race are portrayed as a different race.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
7.1
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
User Ratings
6.6
6.4
Critic Ratings
8.5
7.0
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