Berlinale 2025 Review: GIRLS ON WIRE, Gangsters Pursue Stunt Double and Her Cousin

Barely seen in red-tinged shadows, a caged girl struggles against her captor. Looking for a vein to inject with drugs, he lets his guard down enough for Tian Tian (Liu Haocun) to slit his throat and flee into the tunnels under Chongqing in southwest China.

Hundreds of miles away, Fang Di (Wen Qi) struggles to make a living as a stuntwoman at the enormous Film City, a spread of enormous movie sets. She owes too much money to refuse a dangerous stunt in a river at night. The director demands take after take, even though wire routine leaves her shivering and gasping.

Girls on Wire starts promisingly, with writer and director Vivian Qu zipping through a complicated narrative structure filled with flashbacks. It turns out that Fang Di and Tian are cousins who grew up together in a textile factory.

Tian's addict father dissipates the factory's profits, forcing Fang Di's mother into a debt so onerous her daughter is still paying it off years later. When Tian helps police arrest her father, gangsters go after her for his debts as well.

Tian manages to connect with Fang Di at Film City, not realizing the gangsters have been following her. Fang Di hides her in a warehouse filled with abandoned props.

That's when Girls on Wire loses focus, backtracking to Tian and her dad for long stretches, circling around Fang Di's insecurities, and veering off into a comic subplot about bemused gangsters wandering through medical dramas and war movies.

Strong scenes, like Fang Di crushing an audition for a dramatic role, alternate with maudlin bits where Tian's dad begs for money. Fang Di and Tian have arbitrary fights followed by tearful reconciliations.

Wen Qi, a Taiwanese actor also known as Vicky Chen Wen-chi, is sensational as Fang Di. Aggressive and no-nonsense, she's still plagued by doubts about her abilities. Qi, who worked with director Qu on Angels Wear White, is impressive in her stunts as well.

Liu Haocun has appeared in two Zhang Yimou movies, as well as Jackie Chan's Ride On. With its teary outbursts, Tian is a difficult role for any performer, one that Liu doesn't quite master.

The real problem with Girls on Wire is its script, which devolves into forced coincidences and pointed dialogue. "I'm just a lousy stunt double risky my life to pay off your debt," Fang Di has to proclaim at one point. "I'll roll the dice with fate," becomes Tian's mantra.

Qu and cinematographer Zhang Chaoyi use extended hand-held takes to pull viewers into Fang Di's life and work. The movie makes it very clear how painful it is to fly, a hard-won metaphor that actually makes sense. Girls on Wire also has something important to say about generational poverty, and scores some political points about how pervasive crime and corruption is in China. There is the potential for a good movie here, but it's been buried under flashbacks and sentimentality.

(Photo © L'Avventura Films.) The film enjoys its world premiere at the 2025 Berlinale. Visit its page at the official festival site.