Lost in the Stars (2022 film)

Lost in the Stars
Official film poster
Chinese消失的她
Literal meaningShe Who Disappeared
Hanyu PinyinXiāoshī De Tā
Directed byCui Rui
Liu Xiang
Screenplay by
Based on
Produced byChen Sicheng
Starring
CinematographyShan He
Edited byHongjia Tang
Production
companies
  • Beijing Tianhua Huawen Motion Picture Investment Co.
  • Beijing Weimeng Chuangke Network Technology
  • Beijing Yitong Chuanqi Film Culture
  • Douyin Culture
  • Pearl River Film Media
  • Shanghai Taopiaopiao Film Culture
Distributed byChina Media Capital
Release dates
  • 25 December 2022 (2022-12-25) (Hainan International Film Festival)
  • 22 June 2023 (2023-06-22) (China)
Running time
122 minutes[1]
CountryChina
Languages
  • Mandarin
  • Thai
  • English
Box office$486.2 million[2]

Lost in the Stars (Chinese: 消失的她) is a 2022 Chinese mystery crime film directed by Cui Rui and Liu Xiang, and starring Zhu Yilong, Ni Ni and Janice Man.[3] The film is adapted from Alexey Korenev's 1990 Soviet comedy film A Trap for Lonely Man and French playwright Robert Thomas' 1960 play Trap for a Lonely Man (Piege Pour un Homme Seul). It tells the story of He Fei's wife Li Muzi who disappeared mysteriously during the wedding anniversary trip. It's a film about a story of a shocking case.[4][5][6] The film's style have been described by some critics as "Hitchcockian".[7]

The film premiered at the Hainan International Film Festival on 25 December 2022 and released theatrically in China on 22 June 2023.[8]

Plot[edit]

He Fei and his wife Li Muzi are celebrating the first anniversary of their marriage at an island resort in Barlandia, a fictional Southeast Asian country that appears to have Malay and Thai as their official languages. When Muzi goes missing, the local police refuse to open an investigation, citing the lack of evidence of a crime. Two weeks later, He Fei angrily confronts the police and is thrown out of the station. However, a man named Officer Zheng, who is fluent in Chinese, expresses some sympathy towards him. He Fei wakes up the next day and finds an unknown woman in his room pretending to be Muzi. She possesses a fake passport with Muzi's name. He Fei summons Officer Zheng, only to find that photographs of Muzi on his phone have been replaced with photographs of the unknown woman. Moreover, the woman knows intimate personal details that only Muzi should know. He Fei goes to a book store to find surveillance footage of his wife purchasing a book, but the footage has been replaced to include the woman instead. At a bar, He Fei sees a news segment about a successful lawyer named Chen Mai, and hires her to prove that the unknown woman is not Muzi.

Chen Mai finds evidence that the unknown woman is part of a criminal group who steals the identities of wealthy men's wives. Chen Mai notices that a car is following her and He Fei around Barlandia. She leads He Fei to a hideout where they find further evidence of the group's identity theft activities. As they exit the hideout, they are pursued by a mercenary who tries to kill them with a shotgun, but they successfully escape. Chen Mai then tracks down the local photographer who took photographs of He Fei and Muzi. The photographer demands money in exchange for testifying to the police. He Fei pays the photographer. On the way to the police station, Chen Mai accuses He Fei of hiding something from her. He Fei fires Chen Mai and tries to exit her jeep with the photographer. A sniper who was following them shoots and kills the photographer. He Fei decides to leave and return to China, but the unknown woman confronts him in his resort's room. The woman hits her own head with a glass bottle, whereupon security guards enter the room and arrest He Fei.

He Fei wakes up strapped to a hospital bed while the unknown woman and a surgeon sign a form consenting for a lobotomy to be performed on him. After they leave, Chen Mai sneaks in disguised as a nurse. She explains that she has been framed for the murder of the photographer, and that her only goal is now to prove her own innocence by finding Muzi. Chen Mai accuses He Fei of knowing and concealing Muzi's location from her, and repeatedly demands to know the location in exchange for helping He Fei escape. He Fei finally relents and says that Muzi is at a lighthouse. Chen Mai leaves but He Fei is able to unstrap himself from the bed. He wanders through the corridors of the hospital. When he exits the hospital, he finds that it is a constructed set in the middle of an abandoned complex. He then stumbles upon a dressing room where he is confronted by Chen Mai, the unknown woman, Officer Zheng, the surgeon, and the mercenary with the shotgun. All of them are revealed to be professional actors. Moreover, the local photographer was also bribed to serve as an actor and his death was staged. The police show up and arrest He Fei. It is revealed that He Fei murdered Muzi while they were scuba diving to inherit her wealth upon discovering that Muzi was preparing to file for divorce. Chen Mai reveals herself to be Shen Man, Muzi's friend who works as the director of a theatre troupe in New York. After Muzi failed to contact her, Shen Man flew to Barlandia. Shen Man asks her troupe to join her in Barlandia to trick He Fei into divulging Muzi's location. The drowned body of Muzi is subsequently found in an underwater cage near the lighthouse. She is found with an ultrasound scan of their baby. Shen Man tells He Fei that Muzi was not going to divorce because of the pregnancy. Before Chen leaves for New York, she visits He Fei in prison and tells He Fei that by killing his wife, he also killed his child.

The movie ends with a title card explaining that He Fei is sentenced to death and executed immediately. Shen Man is sentenced to 30 days' detention for causing chaos, burglary and illegal arrest. The rest of the theatre troupe is deported and barred from re-entering Barlandia.

Cast[edit]

Behind-the-scenes[edit]

  • In the film, when He Fei was nervous, half of his face would twitch. Zhu Yilong specially practiced muscle shaking for this purpose.[9]
  • Zhu Yilong revealed that there was a scene in the film where He Fei was shaving his head, which was shot in real life. Because the hair he was shaving was his own real hair, it had to be cut in one line, which was quite difficult to shoot.[10]
  • In order to pursue better dramatic effects, Janice Man requested to film another scene for the "bottle smashing scene"[11]

Original Soundtrack[edit]

Released on 22 June 2023
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Cage" (籠)Tang Tian (By Brave Music)Qian Lei (By Brave Music)Zhang Bichen4:40

Release[edit]

Country/Region[8][12][13] Release Date Distributors
Hainan Island International Film Festival (festival premiere) 25 December 2022 Red X AN
China (advance preview) 21 June 2023
China (theatrical release) 22 June 2023
Australia 6 July 2023 CMC Pictures
United States
Canada 		7 July 2023
New Zealand 13 July 2023
United Kingdom
Ireland 		14 July 2023 Cine Asia
Malaysia
Brunei 		27 July 2023 Purple Plan, ATriNaga (Malaysia, Cambodia, Brunei), Golden Village (Singapore), Westec Media (Cambodia)
Singapore 3 August 2023
Cambodia 18 August 2023
Hong Kong
Macau 		24 August 2023 Intercontinental Films Distribution
Indonesia 30/31 August 2023 Encore Films, CBI Pictures (Indonesia), Warner Bros. Pictures (Thailand, Philippines)
Thailand
Laos 		21 September 2023
Myanmar 22 September 2023
Philippines 27 September 2023
Russia 12 October 2023 Arthouse
Globally 1 October 2023 Netflix
Finland 1 December 2023 BD Technology and Culture Co., Ltd
Ukraine 18 January 2024 Festivals Cinema

Box office[edit]

Pre-sale/Release Time (2023) Box Office (Unit: RMB) Notes Ref.
Pre-sale (including on-demand screening) As of 16 June 15:58:42 9.465 million 2023 Dragon Boat Festival New Film Box Office Ranking No. 1 in Total Box Office [14]
As of 16 June at 17:13:35 10 million [15]
As of 15:00 on 17 June 11.8 million [16]
As of 6:51 on 20 June 13 million [17]
As of 20 June at 17:25:31 26.393 million [18]
As of 17:40 on 20 June 26.535 million Breaking the box office record of the Dragon Boat Festival film pre-sales in the past three years [19]
As of 9:28 on 21 June 30 million [20]
As of 21 June at 17:39:25 45.948 million [21]
single day box office As of 22 June 10:36:01 34.493 million Chinese film history Dragon Boat Festival suspense film box office champion [22]
As of 22 June at 17:24:01 102 million Chinese Film History Dragon Boat Festival domestic film box office champion [23]
As 22 June on 21:00 146 million 2023 Dragon Boat Festival single-day box office champion [24]
Public screening (including pre-sale) As of 22 June 11:08:34 46.512 million The 2023 Dragon Boat Festival Box Office Ranking No. 1 in Total Box Office [25]
As of 22 June 13:03:39 90 million [26]
As of 22 Jun at 13:45:15 100 million [27]
As of 0:00 on 23 June 200 million [28]
As of 23 June 14:49:27 255 million China's film history Dragon Boat Festival domestic film box office champion [29]
As of 23 June at 15:40:56 300 million [30]
As of 24 June at 0:48:45 400 million Breaking the box office records of suspense films and crime films in the Dragon Boat Festival of Chinese film history [31]
As of 24 June at 18:10:24 500 million [32]
As of 14:13 on 25 June 600 million [33]
As of 0:00 on 26 June 700 million [34]
As of 17:38 on 26 June 800 million [35]
As of 27 June 10:39:47 900 million [36]
As of 27 June at 18:42:27 1 billion [37]

Accolades[edit]

Date Awards Nominee Results Ref.
9 April 2023 2022–2023 Movie Channel M List Annual Focus Movies Lost in the Stars Won [38]
3 April 2023 The 13th Beijing International Film Festival "Tiantan Award" Nominated [39]
11 June 2023 2023 Weibo Movie Night "(Most Anticipated) Movies of the Year" Won [40]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Lost in the Stars (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Xiāo Shī De Tā (消失的她) (2023)". The Numbers. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. ^ "《消失的她》今日震撼上映 八大看点揭秘年度极致悬疑力作_YNET.com北青网". ent.ynet.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "2023看什么？《消失的她》携悬疑风席卷而来！_电影策划_电影网_1905.com". www.1905.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ "这个端午档有点热闹！朱一龙电影《消失的她》实时票房破亿，"赌神"周润发重出江湖，还有有主演年龄总和超过250岁的爱情片_杭州网". news.hangzhou.com.cn. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  6. ^ "除了朱一龙，悬疑犯罪片《消失的她》为啥能"杀"疯了". news.cqnews.net. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Lost in the Stars 消失的她 (2023) Review".
  8. ^ a b "朱一龙倪妮"寻找"《消失的她》". m.gmw.cn. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  9. ^ Li, Yang (3 September 2023). "朱一龙凭着《消失的她》获金鹿奖最佳男演员提名" [Zhu Yilong was nominated for the Golden Deer Award for Best Actor for his movie] (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ^ "《消失的她》豆瓣开分7.5，朱一龙上海揭秘片中"剃头"戏" [’Lost in the Starsscored‘ 7.5 on Douban, Zhu Yilong reveals the "head-shaving" scene in the film in Shanghai]. 22 June 2023.
  11. ^ "《消失的她》特辑 朱一龙如同"猎物"般保持警惕_华语_电影网_1905.com" ["She Disappeared" special episode Zhu Yilong remains vigilant like a "prey"]. www.1905.com. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  12. ^ "朱一龙文咏珊《消失的她》破4亿 7月登录北美澳新-新闻频道-长城网" [Zhu Yilong and Wen Yongshan's "lost in the star" broke 400 million and will be released in North America, Australia and New Zealand in July]. news.hebei.com.cn. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  13. ^ "lost in the stars -aiheiset jutut". Episodi.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  14. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  16. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  17. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  18. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  19. ^ "端午档新片预售总票房超5600万元 动画电影或延续火热表现 – 文娱 – 中国产业经济信息网". www.cinic.org.cn. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  20. ^ "端午档电影新片票房超7100万，《消失的她》《我爱你!》位列第一第二[视频]_界面新闻". www.jiemian.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  21. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  22. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  23. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  24. ^ "新京报 – 好新闻，无止境". www.bjnews.com.cn. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  26. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  27. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  28. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  29. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  30. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  31. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  32. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  33. ^ "《消失的她》票房突破6亿 片方：感谢1428万观众_华语_电影网_1905.com". www.1905.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  34. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  35. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  36. ^ "新京报 – 好新闻，无止境". www.bjnews.com.cn. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  37. ^ "《消失的她》票房破十亿 朱一龙倪妮发文庆祝". mbd.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  38. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  39. ^ "百度安全验证". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  40. ^ "Sina Visitor System". passport.weibo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lost_in_the_Stars_(2022_film)&oldid=1209931922"