"......
At this point, some may wonder, what kind of deception has the director of this film constructed?
I must tell you: everything you've seen is not the truth.
Hearing this, you might feel impressed yet bewildered, completely at a loss. Don't worry, let Mint gradually explain the mysteries hidden within this film.
[Spoiler Warning.jpg]
(Those who don't want spoilers or aren't interested can click the exit button in the bottom right now! This is the last chance to escape that Mint has specially left for you, don't be ungrateful [dog face])
Before guiding viewers through this film's mysteries, to give everyone an overall impression of the production team and to allow those who haven't watched but want to experience the film firsthand some space to exit now, let's introduce the crew members.
Director: Shao Yichen. Unless there are two directors with the same name, this should be the same director as "The Last Wish." From horror to detective films isn't too big a leap, especially since "The Last Wish" itself contained some suspense and mystery elements, suggesting this might be this director's specialty.
Lead actors: Nan Rongyu, Nan Rongzhou. Judging from their names, these two are twins, which is quite distinctive in the entertainment industry. When I first saw these leads, Mint found them very familiar, but after searching through lists of actors big and small, I couldn't find their acting credits. It wasn't until I saw the end credits song that Mint had an epiphany. Aren't they the band members who performed the end credits song before! Realizing this, Mint initially thought it somewhat absurd, but upon reflection, it's truly in keeping with Director Shao Yichen's style—both her actions and directing can be described as unbounded imagination, perhaps this is what being a genius means.
Third male lead: Li Xingyu. The male lead from "The Last Wish," no need to say more, his acting skills are guaranteed. However, though the core of his characters in these two films is vastly different, his external performance has some similarities, inevitably causing concern about premature typecasting. Perhaps he should learn from various traffic stars and do the opposite—go back to playing male leads or supporting roles in idol films to experience the flavor of lively characters that young heartthrobs should embody.
Additionally, in the list of friendly appearances, Mint saw the name Zhao Kang, which might be a coincidence. If it's truly that unlucky yet award-winning Director Zhao Kang whose box office results have always been slightly disappointing, it might suggest a mentor-student relationship with Director Shao. Considering the box office and critical success of Shao's debut film, she might achieve the feat of surpassing her teacher.
The actors mentioned above are all relatively unknown. This doesn't mean unknown actors necessarily have poor skills, but there's generally no guarantee. However, the next person I'll introduce is a goddess for an entire generation.
That's right! It's Fang Yuan! After her last art film twenty years ago, she completely retired from the screen, transitioning to theater-related work. Mint never expected to see her appear on screen again, let alone in such a small-budget film!
Moreover, she plays a rather unexpected role in this film. Those who've seen it already know—the homeroom teacher. This character is quite unlikable but very authentic, and she uses her performance to interpret this character thoroughly.
Her confrontation scene with Li Xingyu's character "Yuan You" in the film can be described as brilliant, with both contributing peak acting performances. Honestly, Mint believes that this scene alone between these two is worth seeing in the theater!
Ahem, trust me, Mint is really not being paid for promotion.
Let's return to the main topic.
Since I've already given viewers such a long passage to prevent spoilers, I'll assume that the audience reading beyond this point has already seen the entire film. Without further ado, let's begin our analysis!
Many people who have messaged Mint with objections about this film have used one word: "chaotic."
But after watching it once, Mint feels the film's overall narrative logic is actually quite clear. It neither jumps between timelines nor uses overly abstract expressions; from the very beginning, it clearly presents the story's objective to everyone.
That is, "finding the murderer."
And regarding the murderer's identity, the film doesn't make much effort to conceal it—four suspects are lined up, available for selection.
The deceased fell from a building, with four suspects.
The biological father, the stepsister from a blended family, the homeroom teacher, and the ex-girlfriend.
Each has a motive, each lacks an alibi, yet none has conclusive evidence against them.
Even the film's final twist isn't actually a reversal of the case's content but steps outside the case to reveal a part of the story we've been overlooking all along.
So if the storyline is so clear, why do viewers—and not just one—feel this film is "chaotic"?
Mint's impression is that this story isn't "chaotic" but rather fails to converge all its clues together.
This is also why even fans of the film argue about who the real culprit is.
But this isn't because the director lacks the skill to precisely identify the true culprit. If the director has the ability to set up so many clues, wouldn't they have the ability to resolve them?
Mint's answer is no.
Let's return to that opening statement—everything you've seen is not the truth.
This isn't Mint being mysterious. It's because Mint currently believes that the vast majority of online reviews haven't pointed out this film's true core!
Of course, writing this far, people will surely ask Mint: if that's the case, what is the film's true core?
Patience, let Mint approach this through a question that has troubled many people.
—Why do the police officer and the deceased look so similar in the film?
..."
Shao Yichen read this post, and at this point, her scrolling finger paused momentarily.
Why? Of course, it's purely coincidental!
She had deliberately left this gap for naive mystery enthusiasts to fall into!
But seeing this public account's enigmatic tone, she began to feel various ominous premonitions. Recalling her previous experience of having this public account praise her work as a masterpiece, Shao Yichen felt that this Cat Mint wanted to trap her again.
But despite racking her brains, she couldn't think of any reasonable explanation beyond supernatural powers or spirit possession.
What exactly was this Cat Mint trying to do? With this thought in mind, she continued reading.
"Why do the police officer and the deceased look so similar? At first, Mint was also completely puzzled.
Indeed, after watching the film, Mint had many speculations, each of which seemed possible.
To confirm my suspicions, Mint tried searching for this film's early promotional content, hoping to find some clues in interviews with the creative team. But while this small-budget film has significantly improved in quality, its marketing is still quite inadequate.
The production team had no early advertisements, the actors didn't appear on shows for promotion, and the only publicity was hiring a virtual streamer from a second-dimension platform to stream a game adapted from the film's content.
Initially, Mint was frustrated. But surprisingly, after carefully watching this streamer's gameplay content, I actually discovered some hints!
[Livestream game screenshot.gif]
Don't focus on the moving ears on that cat-eared male character, though that's indeed why I included this animated image for everyone's appreciation.
Let's focus on the game content.
As you can see, this is a relatively simple game where the operation only requires—and can only use—pressing the right arrow button to move the character on screen to the right.
As the character progresses rightward in segment after segment, the environment around the character changes.
From an ordinary corridor at the start, to walls covered in stains, then to a figure following behind and bloodstains spreading along the corridor, finally developing into shattered windows and bleeding eyes growing on the walls.
Viewed purely as a horror game, this game can only be described as ordinary, with no clear main storyline and not much plot, as if it's horror for horror's sake.
But knowing this game is promotional material for "The Web," Mint's perception is completely different.
Since this game promotes the film's content, would it have absolutely no relation to the film? Of course not!
Every dialogue and image in this game must hint at something!
But connecting this game with the film raises another question.
What exactly does the content of this horror game represent?
In the original film, at least on the surface, there are no such supernatural elements! Whether it's ghost shadows, specters, or eyes on the corridor walls, none of these appear in the film!
And if the creator truly wanted to add supernatural elements to the film, they should have hinted at them directly in the film, rather than packaging these elements all at once into a small promotional game.
Considering this, Mint believes there's only one possibility.
—The content in the game is all the protagonist's hallucinations, delusions that exist only in his eyes!
And who is the game's protagonist?
Since the character's face is deliberately obscured with a partial blank, this requires players to deduce for themselves.
Mint initially looked at the figure in the school uniform and guessed it was one of the protagonists, the deceased. But later, the bloodied figure in the corridor is clearly someone who died from falling, indicating this must be the deceased from the film.
So the identity of the game's protagonist becomes quite certain: he is Yuan You, played by Li Xingyu.
And the game's content suggests that Yuan You's mental world might have certain differences from reality!
Realizing this, Mint became aware of another issue.
If the game can be from Yuan You's perspective—could the entire film be the same?"
Author's Note: Second update of the day~
Below is some content that might not feel very comfortable to read~
Regarding the recent issue that this work might be a bit padded, the author has been earnestly reflecting.
Actually, I wasn't aware I was "padding" the story, but looking back now, I may indeed have written too many parts that I thought were useful but actually don't contribute much to the main plot. I'm revising my chapter outline, and anything that can be abbreviated will definitely be deleted.
Some of the previous content, because it was in the draft box, wasn't corrected promptly after feedback. Now this foolish author has already discarded all the content in the draft box and is working hard to write new parts, striving to ensure the padding issue is corrected going forward!
Looking back, my previous works probably had this issue too, but because there were so few readers then and I had various other matters, I overlooked it, yet these plot problems still existed. With this book's improved performance, the problems have become exposed.
In the future, Dududu Ball will always remember this issue and strive to make the story's structure more compact!
Also, thank you to every reader who has reached this point~ Thank you so much! No matter what choice you make, thank you very much for reading the small brainstorm of this immature author.
Whispers quietly, there might be red packets dropping in the comment section of this chapter.
Thank you to the little angels who cast sovereign votes or watered with nutrient solution during the period from 2020-09-03 11:46:53 to 2020-09-03 20:08:47~
Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: My Nissan Is Forever 20 Years Old 20 bottles; A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold 15 bottles; Madman Above 10 bottles; 24510406 6 bottles; Orange Clear, 3292221 5 bottles; Making a Little Heart 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!