Lai Mukuan’s Revival is a valiant Chinese attempt to replicate the sort of twisting, surprise-filled Korean thriller that has been finding increased popularity around the world. It does not quite manage to match its inspiration, but it remains an impressive effort. A slightly absurd narrative is compensated by some stylish production values and a few key performances. An international release feels unlikely; your best chance of checking it out is likely a home video release from Hong Kong or Taiwan.

As a rich family assembles to read their late brother’s will, a lawyer unexpectedly arrives with a recently discovered diary. It is the work of a former employee that died a year ago, following a terrible fire. It lays accusations of conspiracy, betrayal, and murder – accusations that are set to turn the family’s inheritance upside-down.

Revival adapts Higashino Keigo’s popular novel The Murder in Kairoutei; indeed the book has proved popular enough to have been adapted twice already. In 2011 a Japanese film, Kairoutei Satsujin Jiken, was released, and as recently as 2022 it was adapted as a Chinese television drama. Lai’s film condenses the film down to a tight hour-and-a-half, which raises both the tension and a propensity for melodrama.

The film plays across multiple genres, which is a bit of a surprise. The overwrought drama and intense thrills meet audience expectations, but early scenes of farcical comedy – the family rush to hide a corpse from a visiting police officer – are unexpected. This kind of fluidity is more common in East Asian cinema compared to English language film, so pre-existing viewers of Chinese movies will find it easy to adjust. The film also has a relatively idiosyncratic structure, with a story that feels as if its about to end remarkably early, only to take a right turn for its final act. Successful? I’m not certain, but it is certainly interesting to watch.

Suxi Ren is excellent in the lead role of Zhou Yang, the junior lawyer sent to inform the wealthy Gao family of the diary’s existence. At first it seems she is to be a de facto detective protagonist, but as the film progresses her role in the story becomes more complicated. Ren does an excellent job transforming her character step by step, revealing hidden depths as she goes. The supporting cast are mostly very solid, jumping from tone to tone as the script demands.

The film’s ultimate twist has certainly been commercially successful, but I am still not certain it works for me personally. It creates an odd structure where the third act feels less like a climax and more an extended epilogue. Despite the film’s relatively short duration, the structure somehow makes it feel laboured and slow. It lets down the movie somewhat; it is an entertaining potboiler, but I have issues.