Escape from the 21st Century

Director: Yang LiChina 202498 min.FSK 18 (unrated)
Ostentor CinemaSun. 13.04.202519:00
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That is what it is about

Plot? Let's try: In 1999, three boys endure their loser lives only by hoping that everything will be better once they grow up. But after being beaten up by a gang and thrown into a lake contaminated with colorful chemicals, they soon learn that tomorrow is louder, faster and more dangerous instead of better: they can now travel through time - one sneeze and they're in 2019, in 38-year-old bodies. All they have to do now is save the world. Not a thing!

What you should know

What would the HARD:LINE be without a fat party movie at the end? With this drug trip from China, we may have found the holy grail: a firework of ideas that explodes with eye candy, speed and WTF?! A stroboscope-flooded, potentially epileptic ride through a labyrinth of madness - but despite all the over-the-top bling-bling and its (often handmade) parade of effects, it has a heart that beats extremely loudly on the subject of friendship.
Original title: Cong 21 Shi Ji an Quan Che Li
Rights holder: Atlas Film
Language: Mandarin
Cast: Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song, Yanmanzi Zhu
Film festivals: Toronto International Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya

Direction

ESCAPE FROM THE 21st CENTURY is the third feature film by director and writer Li Yang, who was named "Filmmaker of the Year" in China in 2024. Following its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, it has collected a good dozen more awards and nominations worldwide. And undoubtedly gives the impression that Yang fell into the cauldron with the ADHD potion as a child. His debut LEE'S ADVENTURE also brought him a win at the BIFAN Festival in Korea.

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