agmtw logo
search
Soul Mate (2016)

Soul Mate (2016)

A stunning and tearjerking drama centered on female friendship in modern-day China

7.2

Movie

China
Mandarin
Drama, Romance
2016
DEREK TSANG, DEREK TSANG KWOK-CHEUNG
Cai Gang, Cindy Yao, Li Ping
110 min

What it's about

The films spans two decades as the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks that begin when Qiyue and Ansheng were just thirteen. The two became inseparable until they met a boy who ended up tearing their lives apart.

The take

Soul Mate has a familiar premise, has a standard love triangle, and at times, goes through the same formulaic story beats that any moviegoer would recognize. However, what makes the film unique is that it’s not focused on which character should get the guy, but on the friendship between two women and what's really driving them apart. In director Derek Tsang’s capable hands, we learn about their dynamic in fragments and through crucial moments. Gorgeous cinematography and editing turn memories golden in nostalgia. But it’s ultimately Zhou Dongyu and Sandra Ma’s performances that solidify the friendship. Theirs is a study of contrasts between the independent yet freeloading Ansheng versus the stable but yearning Qiyue. It’s the actresses who prove that the real soul connection can be found between these two women instead.

Comments

Add a comment

Your name

Your comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

The Half of It (2020)

An atmospheric romance that starts with “this is not a love story"

7.3

Lust, Caution (2007)

A wartime spy falls for a collaborator in this erotic espionage drama

7.3

American Girl (2021)

Mother and daughter hash it out in this poignant cross-cultural film

7.0

The Joy Luck Club (1993)

A phenomenal film adaptation of the classic Chinese-American novel

8.6

True Spirit (2023)

An inspirational, though generic, cruise depicting the real-life adventure

6.0

Mukhsin (2007)

Yasmin Ahmad ends the Orked trilogy with a charming return to childhood first love

7.5

The Falls (2021)

Mother and daughter navigate a fraught relationship in this quietly beautiful drama

8.0

Stonewalling (2024)

Life is transactional in this portrait of contemporary China

7.5

Daughter of the Nile (1987)

A stunning naturalistic film about a Taiwanese family in the 1980s

7.5

The Substance (2024)

Demi Moore swaps bodies in this standout chaotic body dysmorphia horror

8.0

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.