Director Zhang Wei returns with another focus on China’s social issues in an exploration of life as a transgender person living in a changing Chinese society. Huanyu, who decides to undergo a sex-change, needs his father’s consent in order to go ahead with the medical procedures. His devoted Catholic father only sees transgender identity as a sin and sickness. The film examines the LGBT issue which remains a taboo in Chinese society in the way it depicts the relationship between the transgender-wishing protagonist and his family. The hand-held B&W camerawork which constantly emphasizes realism, is highlighted by one particular scene where his father finally recognizes his identity and they go out together, with his dress a bright red. The liveliness of the red dress in contrast to the tough stares directed at him within the B&W frame stresses the gap between social gaze and individual desire to create a dramatic antithesis. The film is structured around familial relationships, but also conveys the mutual support and advocacy coming from inside the transgender community as well as a sympathetic sensibility. (Hong So In)