The Road Not Taken

The latest work from acclaimed filmmaker Peter Ho-Sun Chan is a polished and emotionally charged family drama that explores the horror of early-onset Alzheimer disease, as the boundaries of a once-familiar reality dissolve into an alien dimension that’s impossible to trust.

Jia Jia (Zhou Xun) is a successful television host whose professional life appears completely under control even as her marriage to a wildlife conservationist is falling apart.

When, during a public discussion about AI, she struggles to remember the term, calling it “artificial talent” instead, she blames work-related exhaustion. Soon, however, these lapses become increasingly disturbing.

The film’s narrative structure combines Jia Jia’s emerging symptoms with domestic crises involving the deeply fractured relationship with her daughter and the complex rapport she has with her father. The relentless takeover of the disease provides a distinctive rhythm, like an accelerating heartbeat that punctuates the disappearance of intellectual certainties as they are gradually replaced by a raw and frightened emotional state. Social roles, old arguments, and carefully constructed identities slowly begin to fall away.

Illuminated by Zhou’s extraordinary performance, the film is further strengthened by Wen Qi’s convincing portrayal of Jia Jia’s daughter and by celebrated Fifth Generation filmmaker Tian Zhuangzhuang’s warm and generous performance as her father.

Rooted in Chan’s artistic sensibility and exceptional command of storytelling, The Road Not Taken combines intimate, character-driven drama with strong emotional and commercial appeal, offering a powerful reflection on family and what remains of us when the structures through which we understand the world begin to disappear.

GIOVANNA FULVI

Content advisory: mature themes, suggestion of suicide