A middle-class family’s fate becomes intertwined with their only son’s enigmatic new friend in post one-child policy China, putting unspoken secrets, unmet expectations, and untended emotions under the microscope.

After an incident at their private school, Wei, an only son from a middle-class family, and Shuo, a quiet, highly perceptive boy, find themselves connected through some mysterious energy that draws them intimately into each other’s lives. In his feature debut, writer and director Jianjie Lin elegantly unfurls a story where, just under the surface of family dinners, polite manners, and daily school and extracurricular activities, lie dark truths and hidden yearnings threatening to explode into sight. With an arresting, sharp style and a unique sensitivity to the socioeconomic status of its characters, Brief History of a Family is an exciting new expression of Chinese film on the world stage.—SS

Available in person. Also available online for the public (January 25–28) and credentialed press and industry (January 24–28).