For some, COVID was like being in jail. I’m not talking about the MAGA-verse in the US who seemed to find repellant the mere idea that a social contract exists. [This is one of the many awful side-effects of having a narcissistic President: the population becomes more and more selfish until that’s the norm, not the exception.] I’m talking here about people who really were forced to lock down; families separated by circumstance and/or arbitrary health rules enforced by the military.
We didn’t actually experience real lockdown for COVID in the United States and we have a large volume of death numbers to prove it. In Wuhan, China, however, the epicenter of COVID-19, they took it seriously. Really seriously.
The premise of An Unfinished Film is a troupe finds ten-year-old footage of a fictional tale never brought to life. They decide to finish said film. Unfortunately, they have chosen to do so in Wuhan at the end of 2019. Hence, when they try to break for year-ending holidays, they cannot. The very day they leave, their hotel is on enforced lockdown. No leaving. No visiting family. Man, don’t even go into the lobby. We will feed you. Just sit in your room.
The star -for lack of a better word for this Zoom show is Jiang Cheng (Hao Qin). The film wasn’t clear as to exactly what role Jiang has in the production, yet I feel all communication starts from him. He has a wife and small child who could be right next door or in the Himalayas. It doesn’t really matter. He can’t see them until this is over. Heck, he sees his film team every day, but only over Zoom. The most striking part of this “documentary” is how rigid the authorities are. They literally want Jiang and company in their respective hotel rooms until this is over.
And who knows when that will be.
Hence, the filmmakers have their own fun. And by fun, I mean the same kind 
of crap we did over Zoom during COVID. It was a necessary tool at the time, and probably our greatest source of amateur entertainment, ever. Nothing like an elementary school play brought to life, huh?
An Unfinished Film was almost certainly better than the film they were making. Does that matter? Only in that the producers produced the correct film. And there are several emotional moments from the excitement of lockdown to the heartbreak of a family broken apart. However, I feel like we lived this … only because we did live this … sort of. I didn’t need to live it again.
A film crew was harshly gobsmacked
When the deadly Wuhan virus attacked
Forced to their rooms
And reliant on Zooms
They sat until they collectively cracked
Not Rated, 105 Minutes
Director: Ye Lou
Writer: Ye Lou, Yingli Ma
Genre: Documentary?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who felt confined by COVID
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who don’t wish to re-live 2020 under any circumstances
