Film about Chinese society’s preference for boys beats Godzilla vs. Kong at mainland box office
- My Sister follows the story of a young woman pressured to raise her younger brother after her parents die. But she is torn about pursuing a budding medical career
- The movie has set off a conversation about the preference for boys in Chinese society
The movie follows a young woman named An Ran, played by actress Zhang Zifeng, whose family pressures her to raise her younger brother after their parents die. It has sparked a national discourse about China’s patriarchal culture and the widespread preference among parents to have boys.
During the film, the audience gradually learns about An’s hardships, such as having to pretend to be disabled so her parents could be granted permission by authorities to have a second child in the years before China lifted its one-child policy in 2015.
The film was created by two women, director Yin Ruoxin and screenwriter You Xiaoying. Both of them have explored Chinese family dynamics in their previous works.
You, the screenwriter, told The Beijing News that, even though she is a single child, the idea for the film stems from experiences her friends shared when China allowed births of a second child in 2015.