The Big Picture

The score and cinematography in Brief History of a Family create a unique atmosphere. Xilun Sun’s enigmatic performance keeps audiences guessing until the end. The film’s ambiguity in the finale lacks sufficient build-up and support, potentially stemming from efforts to cater to international audiences.

In writer and director Jianjie Lin’s feature debut, we are welcomed into a middle-class family’s home through the eyes of an outsider after an incident at school brings two students together. No doubt Brief History of a Family will come with many Saltburn comparisons as the film centers around the idea of an intruder slowly embedding himself into a family, but that might be both giving Brief History of a Family too much credit and not enough. Subdued and minimal, Lin’s eye focuses on the family in question rather than the newcomer and gives us an intimate look at this modern Chinese family.

Brief History of a Family In post one-child policy China, a middle-class family takes in their only son’s mysterious new friend. This triggers buried family tensions as secrets and feelings surface, testing the bonds and expectations holding the family together. Release Date January 19, 2024 Director Jianjie Lin Cast Ke-Yu Guo , Muran Lin , Xilun Sun , Feng Zu Runtime 99 minutes Main Genre Drama Writers Jianjie Lin

What Is ‘Brief History of a Family’ About?
When Yan Shuo (Xilun Sun) is hit with a basketball at school and injured, his classmate Tu Wei (Muran Lin) quickly comes in to apologize to him. As a way of making up for his mistake, Wei invites Shuo back to his house to play video games and hang out for a bit. When Wei’s parents come home, he is quickly invited to dinner. At dinner, the Tu family learns that Shuo’s home life is not as comfortable as theirs. The Tus are clearly upper middle class, with a comfortable home and luxuries that denote their affluence. Shuo reveals that his father is a single parent after his mother died, and later we learn that he is abusive as well.

As Shuo comes around more often, encouraged by Wei who realizes that with Shuo around, his parents won’t bother him, it becomes clear that Shuo is trying to fold himself into the family. He becomes close with Wei’s mother (Ke-Yu Guo) by cooking with her or asking her simple questions about herself. He gains Wei’s father’s (Feng Zu) trust by showing interest in classical music and offering his insight on it. As the story unfolds, and we learn more about the Tus, specifically about how Wei’s parents dealt with the one-child policy in China, it becomes clear how Shuo can make his way into the family.

Eventually, he becomes a part of the family, living in their home and going on family vacations. Suspense builds around Shuo’s attachment to the Tus, but as the film edges toward the end of its 99-minute runtime, not everything is as it seems. What once seemed like a guarantee soon melts away in the aftermath of a shocking turn of events.

‘Brief History of a Family’ Masterfully Builds Tension

Unlike some other films in the “family infiltration” genre, Shuo’s motives are unclear to us. We know where the Tu family stands. Wei’s mother is still mourning the loss of a child and sees potential in the arrival of Shuo, a soft-spoken boy who is not only polite but thoughtful. Wei’s father sees in Shuo an intelligent young man, one who looks up to him in a way his son never will. While he initially sees Shuo as a welcome distraction for his parents, Wei soon considers his classmate an annoyance and even a rival at times.

This conflict between the boys simmers quietly in the background as Jianjie Lin artfully adds suspense to the story. Sometimes Lin encloses a scene in a circular frame, mimicking the microscopic lens that Shuo examines the family from and we get the sense that this welcoming family is stepping into the jaws of a trap. Xilun Sun offers little in his masked expressions, but there is a wealth of emotion bubbling beneath the surface as Shuo. Similarly, Muran Lin, Ke-Yu Guo, and Feng Zu clash as a family that is barely holding it together. Shuo’s arrival changes everything, but when they are alone, the seams begin to show as expectations are piled on Wei’s shoulders or as we watch the parents try to navigate an unhappy marriage.

‘Brief History of a Family’ Lacks a Nucleus to Hold Together

But a film is more than just the beginning and middle. How a story ends defines how we think of it, and there is a murkiness to Brief History of a Family that doesn’t exactly feel like genius. While Jianjie Lin can be applauded for not taking the obvious route when it comes to Shuo’s story, it also seems like he doesn’t know where exactly he wants to go.

The film lacks a strong center to hold it together. As the story unfolds and a building mystery forms, Lin rejects giving us a comfortable ending, instead focusing on the ambiguous after his climax. It’s not completely off-kilter because, in the end, we see exactly where the Tu family’s loyalties lie, but it leaves the story feeling somewhat empty. Some of this could be attributed to the fact that Lin purposefully wrote and directed this movie for an international audience, stating in his Sundance post-film Q&A that they cut whatever felt distinctly Chinese from the film to make it easier to understand for global viewers.

I can’t help but wonder if he kept some of those nuances in if the movie would have better filled in the gaps of this story. The fact of the matter is Brief History of a Family is a very Chinese movie. It tackles ideas like the one-child policy and the aftermath of its dissolution. It makes not-so-subtle nods at fuerdai, a term used for children of the nouveau riche who have grown up in an affluent family without facing many challenges in life. Wei is a perfect example of this, a child spoiled by his parents’ wealth, while simultaneously being groomed to go abroad to study. Stripping the film of more specific characteristics that make it Chinese feels like a disservice to the film, and it makes me wonder what kind of story we could have gotten had Lin leaned in rather than shied away.

Jianjie Lin’s Debut Is Imperfect but a Promising Start
Image via Sundance 

Brief History of a Family is, on the surface, a sleek and modern story. It is one that is told artistically with a frenetic score that thrums into your bones. Composer Toke Brorson Odin is responsible for the looming dread and anxiety we feel watching each scene. Oppressive at times, Odin’s score matches cinematographer Jiahao Zhang’s varying styles. From slo-mo action scenes to close-ups of a dying fish, Zhang puts us into the mind’s eye rather than making us simply an observer. This and the film’s strong performances strengthen Jianjie Lin’s debut, but Brief History of a Family is flawed in its execution. The ultimate ambiguity might be enough for some to praise Lin’s work, but there’s simply not enough to chew on by the end of the story for it to be a resounding success.

Brief History of a Family Jianjie Lin’s directorial debut stumbles toward the finish line after a promising start. ProsThanks to the score and the cinematography, the film feels sleek and sophisticated in its quiet approach to a thriller. Xilun Sun’s Shuo is the perfect cipher protagonist who keeps us guessing all the way to the end. ConsThere is too much ambiguity in the finale without enough build-up or support in the earlier parts of the film. Jianjie Lin’s attempt to make the film more accessible to international audiences robs the movie of some authenticity.

Brief History of a Family had its World Premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.