On a sweltering summer day, three young teens set out on a reckless plan to escape the confines of their small town.

A stifling summer day. A small town in China, where everything feels stagnant. Middle school dropouts Cheng (14), Zhang(14), and Li(13), each burdened by their own troubles, hatch a plan to escape the town. Broke and desperate, they wander around the streets, looking for ways to “make money”. Eventually, they set out on a reckless robbery, and what begins as an ordinary day ends violently... The film follows them through this oppressive day, delving into the dark corners of adolescence. Their acts are brutal, yet they themselves are brutalized by a world indifferent to their struggles.

The film is based on a 2019 incident in China where three young teens robbed a store and killed the owner for quick cash. Their brutal act sparked public outrage, with many demanding the death penalty—a response that, even in the name of justice, I see as another form of violence. This made me ask: what’s wrong with us, not just with the teens? I decided to make this film to examine the societal conditions that shape these teenagers’ confusion, despair, and the pervasive violence around them.