OLD STONE

"In China, life is cheap but compassion is expensive … a remarkably mature debut, exposing with stunning clarity the infuriating red tape and flawed logic of China's system." – Variety

China's drivers face a brutal, corrupting paradox: if they hit someone and the person dies, the driver must pay a small, one-off fine; however, if the person survives then the driver must pay for their lifelong medical expenses. For taxi driver Lao Shi, the ruinous, unforgiving realities of the law are laid bare when he hits a motorcyclist after having his steering thrown off by a drunken passenger. Unable to wait for an ambulance and against the dire warnings of passers-by, Shi takes the man to emergency himself, admitting his guilt and liability in the process.

What follows is a Kafkaesque descent into bureaucratised madness, helmed with admirable control and insight by first-time writer/director Johnny Ma, as Shi's life is inexorably torn apart by a system that needs him to fail. A spine-chilling, bloody portrait of a culture where goodness is punished by government, family and friends alike and common decency is corroded as ordinary people resort to desperate measures, Old Stone presents a scathing vision of empathetic breakdown that would be absurd if it wasn't so based in truth.

"Drawing on multiple genres – from Dardennes-style drama to jet-black noir – the pic is a refreshing and solid debut." – Hollywood Reporter