Audiences fall for arresting whodunit

"As a feminist, I find it thought-provoking when a man assumes a family role traditionally performed by a woman. For a long time, women have been conditioned to take on household responsibilities, accept the norm of prioritizing their husband's career over their own, and experience guilt and self-recrimination when any misfortune befalls the family," she says.

"I believe the movie expresses this so realistically, accurately, restrainedly, and delicately because it is told through the perspective of a female director," Dai adds.

Along with Dong Qiang, the dean of the French Department at Peking University, Dai attended a post-screening session with Triet to discuss the movie at the university on March 24.

Admitting the significance of her being a female creator, Triet explains that the film centers on a female writer, exploring how she views and understands the world. She hopes that this film will encourage more female viewers not to passively accept certain conventions of society, but to think and redefine their attitudes toward life.

As a mother of two children, the 45-year-old director explains that the story was inspired by her curiosity to explore how her daughter, who was 10 years old at the time, would perceive family dynamics and the complexities of life.