Overview
A haunting exploration of violence and alienation in contemporary China.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- brooding
- angry
- alienated
- serious film night
- political cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's urgent social criticism, visual lyricism, emotional force, and stylish violence, while noting uneven screenplay grace.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Four independent stories follow different characters across contemporary China while collectively exposing recurring social pressures.
Quiet realist landscapes and everyday social spaces give way to choreographed acts of graphic violence.
Bureaucracy, corruption, inequality, humiliation, and displacement shape the characters' crises and acts of retaliation.
The stories move through varied modern Chinese environments marked by industrial development, wealth disparity, and social alienation.
Films like A Touch of Sin, and why
Wild Tales
socially conscious anthology structure, contemporary Chinese settings, and bursts of stylized violence
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
episodic crime drama examining alienation, inequality, and institutional failure through darkly comic violence
City of God
political social criticism, fragmented storytelling, and emotionally forceful depictions of marginalized lives
Parasite
modern alienation, moral dislocation, and formally controlled violence within a realist social landscape
Movie Details
- Director
- Jia Zhangke
- Release Date
- 2013-10-04
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (396)
Cast
- Jiang Wu
- Wang Baoqiang
- Zhao Tao
- Li Meng
- Zhang Jiayi
- Luo Lanshan
- Wang Hongwei
- Liu Lu
- Wang Qiang
- Han Sanming
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- AMC+ Amazon Channel, Kino Film Collection
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Touch of Sin about?
- Four fractured lives collide with corruption, humiliation, and explosive violence in a searing portrait of contemporary China.
- What is A Touch of Sin like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Touch of Sin as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Touch of Sin violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in A Touch of Sin as graphic.
- What did critics think of A Touch of Sin?
- Critics broadly praised the film's urgent social criticism, visual lyricism, emotional force, and stylish violence, while noting uneven screenplay grace.
- Which films are like A Touch of Sin?
- Films with a similar feel include Wild Tales, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, City of God, and Parasite.
- How long is A Touch of Sin?
- A Touch of Sin runs 131 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Touch of Sin?
- In United States, A Touch of Sin streams on AMC+ Amazon Channel, Kino Film Collection.
