Chen Kaige's period action drama Sacrifice may have only reached theatres in the U.S. recently, but it came out in Asia back in 2010. In the meantime, the director has staked out new territory by making Caught in the Web, a drama about cyber-bullying that will screen at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.
Gao Yuanyuan (Shanghai Dreams, Rob-B-Hood, City of Life and Death) stars as a young woman who is diagnosed with cancer. Still numbed and shocked by the news, she fails to give up her seat on a crowded bus to an elderly passenger, a moment that is caught on video, which quickly goes viral and "heralds even more catastrophes in both her personal and professional life," according to TIFF's program notes.
The program notes make the movie sound like a straight drama, but the slick-looking trailer sells it as a hard-charging thriller revolving around three women -- one of them, apparently, an ambitious, cold reporter -- which is what caught my eye. Whichever way the movie falls, it's Chen Kaige and, after Sacrifice, he may be on a hot streak. Have a look at the trailer, embedded below, and decide for yourself.