Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 325 was pretty good! (34)

The first screening of "The Telephone" has ended, and online reviews are already starting to spread...

No, it should be that online trolls started stirring up trouble!

Mainly concentrated on Douban…

Oh, so they hired online trolls to 'maintain' their reputation...

Although no Chinese-language films were released during the same period, Douban, as everyone knows, looks down on domestic films!

What's more, Yang Mi is also there...

Honey Sister has a terrible reputation on Douban!
Hire some online trolls to offset the negative reviews...

It received a 7.8 rating on Douban initially…

However, online reviews aren't having a particularly big impact on the film at this stage...

It mainly depends on the pre-launch promotion and the cast.

Roadshows are still very important.

There were reporters present, who asked, "What are your box office expectations?"

"This year's environment is quite special, with a surge in the number of imported Hollywood films, but I'm still confident in 'The Telephone,' and I think breaking 100 million at the box office won't be a problem!"

"Just over 100 million?"

Shen Yan was speechless, then retorted, "Have you guys not investigated the box office ceiling for genre films? So far, the highest-grossing domestic thriller is last year's 'Mysterious Island'... That movie grossed over 90 million yuan, I feel like I've already been quite daring, why do you seem a little dissatisfied..."

"Mainly because your previous films have consistently achieved box office miracles..."

"It's already a miracle that the box office has exceeded 100 million... Our film cost less than 20 million!"

……

While the creative team was on their roadshow.

Wanda Cinema.

It was 3 p.m., a time when cinemas are usually quite quiet.

However, Yang Xiaowen was surprised to find that there was a long queue at the cinema!
Yang Xiaowen, online film critic…

He started by writing film reviews on Douban, and later, many newspapers and magazines contacted him, requesting that his work be reprinted…

I simply switched careers and became a part-time film critic…

In the past few months, he has written film reviews for "Love", "I Do", "Perfect Two", "Life Without Principle", "Double Trap", "A Simple Life", and "The Great Chase"...

That's right, his film reviews focus on domestic films!
Aren't Hollywood blockbusters great?

You think he doesn't want to watch...

Who the hell wants to suffer through two hours in a movie theater...?

Some movie scenes were so cringeworthy he wanted to pick his toes!

This is because most Hollywood blockbusters don't invest in public relations in China, and very few media outlets publish related reports!

Unless it's a phenomenon, or some media outlets that are inherently promoting their own agendas...

I received the assignment to watch "The Telephone" in a group chat—the requirement was to be fair and objective…

Then he came with a 'fair and objective' mindset!
The synopsis already tells the audience most of the plot: it tells the story of the female protagonist moving into a house and receiving a strange phone call from the past. While the first half is relatively slow-paced, the second half picks up the pace, creating a series of mini-climaxes – it's really good!

Upon returning home, he immediately wrote a film review:
First, let's talk about the viewing experience. When it comes to science fiction films, there is a distinction between hard and soft. In layman's terms, it's about whether the film focuses on "science" or "fantasy." Clearly, "The Telephone" focuses on "fantasy," using the telephone as a tool to advance the magical events and connect the protagonists from two different times, thus unfolding the story.

Themes that intersect and influence the past and present are not uncommon, and suspense films that manipulate time have long formed several mature genres.

Going back further, you can find similar classics such as "Frequency" and "The Butterfly Effect".

This kind of time-travel suspense film does not rely on hard science for its backing, but rather on a basic system composed of several fundamental rules.

Compared to other hard science fiction films that explore the theme of time, "The Telephone" is more like a low-budget horror film using a science fiction setting, and both the film's visual style and camerawork say it all.

During the viewing of "The Telephone," the audience can easily understand and accept these rules.

In both timelines, time always progresses linearly in one direction, and humans cannot jump between time and space.

Death means permanent elimination. Every change triggered by the butterfly effect instantly alters the memories of those involved, except for the protagonist, Liu Shishi—Yang Mi, who is immune to memory alteration because only she can change the future, not the future.

Don't think about whether it makes sense or not; that's how the world of "The Telephone" works.

Only by accepting it can you fully immerse yourself in this dark story.

In 1999, Ying Shu (Yang Mi), a patient with antisocial personality disorder, made several phone calls to her friends for help, but the person who answered the phone was Shu Yan (Liu Shishi), who had returned to the old house in 2012.

At the time of the call, they lived in the same country mansion, only thirteen years apart. Their long phone conversations forged a close friendship, and Shuyan convinced Yingshu of their unusual situation by broadcasting glimpses of the future.

The time difference rekindled their hope of changing their fate.

First, friends help each other. After learning that Shuyan's father died in a fire, Yingshu volunteered to save her father's life.

In an instant, Shuyan's world was transformed. She went from a capable woman with short hair to a lady with long, curly hair, and her quiet bedroom became a princess bedroom filled with her parents' love.

Downstairs to the greenhouse, her parents were still alive. Ying Shu's righteous act saved this family from the fate of her father's death, her mother's illness, and her daughter leaving home, allowing them to live peacefully together from 1999 to 2012.

To repay Young-sook, Seo-yeon offered to tell her fortune, but found out from the news that Seo-yeon had been murdered in the mansion by her stepmother, a witch.

In return, she immediately told Ying Shu to be extra careful on the night of her death, thus changing Ying Shu's fate.

I never imagined that Young-sook was an antisocial personality, a born killer...

I have to praise Yang Mi. She's a ferocious and arrogant serial killer; even the way she eats fried chicken is terrifying.

The acting was superb. At first, he was secretive and afraid of the police, but later he unleashed his killing spree and entered a state of self-forgetfulness. The surrounding world was like a paper-folded underworld, and wherever the butcher's knife went, there were fragments everywhere.

Liu Shishi's acting was also quite good.

The desolate scene in the countryside made both the police and Liu Shishi's relatives seem as vulnerable as chickens waiting to be slaughtered...

Personally, I feel that the movie "Telephone" was just a concept that Shen Yan came up with on a whim to serve the purpose of a horror film;
Before the actual filming, suspense elements were added and Yang Mi's scenes were expanded, significantly altering the story's focus to achieve a better viewing experience. While the quality wasn't exceptional, it was still commendable; at least the balance between science fiction and thriller was handled quite well!

I give it four stars and highly recommend it…

……

The publicity team has hired quite a few online film critics like Yang Xiaowen…

They also "invited" many well-known film critics in the industry to write articles recommending the film.

Well, the production cost of "Telephone" was 900 million, while the marketing cost was 1500 million!
Unlike online film critics like Yang Xiaowen, industry insiders unanimously recommend films with "large-scale content!"

Zhang Xiaobei said directly, "Such a daring movie, I heard it wasn't cut at all...that's amazing!"

(End of this chapter)