Assassinate the Novelist

刺杀小说家

Fantasy Action

Rating

7.0 / 10

Year

2021

Director

Lu Yang

Duration

130 min

Box Office

1.035 billion CNY

Views

Cast

Lei Jiayin Yang Mi Dong Zijian Yu Hewei Guo Jingfei Tong Liya

Synopsis

Guan Ning, a father searching for his daughter who has been missing for six years, is forced to accept the mission to assassinate the novelist Lu Kongwen. However, the fantastical world written by Lu Kongwen is mysteriously connected to reality, and the two storylines intertwine between fiction and reality, ultimately leading to an unexpected climax.

Overview

A Writer's Odyssey is a fantasy action film released during the 2021 Chinese New Year season. Directed by Lu Yang and produced by Ning Hao, it is adapted from the short story of the same name by Shuang Xuetao. The film features a stellar cast including Lei Jiayin, Yang Mi, Dong Zijian, Yu Hewei, Guo Jingfei, and Tong Liya. It employs a dual-narrative structure, cleverly intertwining the real world with a fantastical one from a novel, telling a story of paternal love, obsession, and rebellion. The film ultimately grossed approximately 1.035 billion RMB, emerging as a dark horse of that year's Spring Festival box office.

The film's biggest highlight is its unique world-building: characters written by the novelist can influence the fates of people in reality. This narrative technique of blurring fiction and reality is extremely rare in Chinese commercial cinema. Combined with the fantastical world scenes crafted by a top-tier visual effects team, it presents audiences with a dual feast of visuals and storytelling.

Plot

The Real World: Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin) has been searching for his missing daughter, Little Orange, for six years without giving up. By chance, he is found by a mysterious woman named Tu Ling (Yang Mi) and introduced to business tycoon Li Mu (Yu Hewei). Li Mu claims that a novel currently being serialized by writer Lu Kongwen (Dong Zijian) has a mysterious connection to reality, and the fates of the characters in the novel are affecting his own health and fortune. Li Mu promises to help Guan Ning find his daughter on the condition that Guan Ning assassinates Lu Kongwen.

The Fantastical World: In Lu Kongwen's novel, the imperial capital of the fantastical world is brutally ruled by the deity Redmane, who massacres the innocent and brings suffering to all. The young Kongwen, whose family was destroyed by Redmane, is relentlessly pursued but never gives up. Guided by a mysterious Black Armor warrior, Kongwen embarks on a mortal's quest to slay a god, determined to overthrow Redmane's tyrannical rule.

The two storylines progress in parallel, with fiction and reality influencing each other. As the novel's plot develops, subtle changes occur in real-world events. Guan Ning gradually discovers that the young Kongwen in the novel is intricately linked to the real-world Lu Kongwen, and Li Mu's true hidden motives are far darker than they appear. Ultimately, the confrontations in both worlds reach their climax simultaneously, forcing Guan Ning to make his own choice.

Main Cast

Actor	Role	Role Description
Lei Jiayin	Guan Ning / Red Armor Warrior	A father searching for his daughter; a dual-role character spanning reality and the fantastical world
Yang Mi	Tu Ling	Li Mu's assistant; a cold, capable, and mysterious woman
Dong Zijian	Lu Kongwen / Kongwen	A persistent novelist; the young man in the fantastical world
Yu Hewei	Li Mu / Redmane	A business tycoon; the tyrannical deity of the fantastical world
Guo Jingfei	Black Armor / Old Monk	A mysterious guide in the fantastical world
Tong Liya	Ban Ruo	An important character in the fantastical world

Production

The film's visual effects were produced by MORE VFX. With a team of over 800 people, the VFX work took nearly two years to complete. The design of the fantastical world's scenes incorporates numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture, from architectural styles to costumes, reflecting a rich Eastern aesthetic. The entire film was shot using IMAX 3D technology and was one of the first Chinese commercial films to utilize virtual production techniques.

Director Lu Yang, previously known for the Brotherhood of Blades series, transitioned to a large-scale fantasy film with this project, demonstrating his ability to handle major commercial productions while maintaining his authorial style. The film is adapted from a short story by Shuang Xuetao, originally published in 2013, which is one of Shuang Xuetao's most representative works.

Box Office and Reception

The film was released on February 12, 2021 (Chinese New Year's Day). Despite competition from Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3, it ultimately grossed approximately 1.035 billion RMB, thanks to its unique subject matter and high-quality visual effects. It holds a 7.0 rating on Douban. Audience reception was polarized: the visual effects and the design of Chinese elements were widely praised, but the dual-narrative structure presented a higher barrier to understanding, with some viewers finding the plot overly complex.

This was the first domestic fantasy film to surpass the 1 billion RMB box office mark since Monster Hunt 2, making it a milestone for the development of the Chinese fantasy genre.

Cultural Impact

The success of A Writer's Odyssey demonstrated that the Chinese film industry has reached world-class standards in the field of visual effects. The art design of the fantastical world, blending elements of traditional Chinese mythology with modern aesthetics, pioneered a new style for domestic fantasy films.

The film's exploration of meta-narrative also sparked widespread discussion. The premise of fiction influencing reality echoes the literary tradition in ancient Chinese "biji" (notebook) fiction where text and reality intertwine, injecting literary depth into a commercial genre film.

In 2025, the sequel A Writer's Odyssey 2 was released, but it failed to match the critical and commercial success of the first film, which in turn highlights the special place the original holds in audiences' hearts.