At a Chinese film studio threatened with closure, a handful of employees still live and work on the premises. One of them is Lao Zha (Da Peng), who lives among the empty sets, now buried beneath an endless winter. Along with a cat who was once a graceful and famous actor, he occupies a small corner of the studio grounds. He patiently saves his meagre salary, dreaming of one day getting to see something else.
When the studio owner can no longer afford to pay Lao Zha, he gives him a VR headset loaded with a game containing a seductive digital world. Lao Zha is drawn into this new reality, and an encounter with a mysterious woman awakens his dream of travelling into space.
A hand-drawn animated feature and an impressive directorial debut, the film puts loneliness at its centre while turning conventional ideas about the advantages and drawbacks of technology on their head.
– Mia Rogersdotter Gran
