Trailer for Neo-Noir thriller Are You Lonesome Tonight?

One dark night, AC repairman Wang Xueming (Eddie Peng, The Rescue) hits a pedestrian with his van, panics and flees the scene. Tormented by the accident and desperate to escape his feelings of guilt, he approaches the widow (Sylvia Chang) and strikes up a relationship. Meanwhile, her husband’s body is discovered – riddled with bullets. Though he’s determined to piece together the complete events of that fateful night, Wang is also being stalked by a shadowy killer (Lu Xin) who spotted his van at the site of the hit-and-run. To complicate matters further, the detective in charge of the investigation, Chen, becomes obsessed with the case. Years later, the trio remain trapped in a tangled web of memories and lies, desperately searching for a truth that refuses to be revealed.

Unveiled through a mix of memory, flashback and narration, director Wen Shipei makes an impressive debut with the short neo-noir thriller Are You Lonesome Tonight, set in Guangzhou in the 1990s. Nominated for a Camera d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, it was also an Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival and San Sebastian.

Are You Lonesome Tonight will be released on DVD and VOD July 18, 2023 from Film Movement.