Emotional debt can be more burdensome than financial debt. It’s inescapable and cannot be refinanced or reallocated. It’s yours to carry and yours to resolve. It leads to stress and burnout because it’s a constant drain on your energy, leaving you ill-equipped to deal with other aspects of your life. But confronting the source isn’t always the answer and may even make matters worse. That’s what’s at the heart of The Sun Rises on Us All, Cai Shangujun’s examination of ex-lovers with a complex history who are unexpectedly brought back together during difficult times in their lives.
Meiyun (Xin Zhilei) owns a clothing store, has a boyfriend and may be pregnant with her first child. On paper, everything appears to be going her way. But it’s not all as perfect as it seems. To make things more complicated, she sees her ex, Baoshu (Zhang Songwen), at the hospital. He’s also having a tough time, undergoing treatment for a cancer diagnosis. But the last time they saw each other, Baoshu was serving a prison sentence after taking responsibility for Maiyun’s crime. The years have boiled their former love into resentment so toxic, forgiveness may be impossible.
Co-writer and director Shangjun captures the naked viewpoints of this former couple as they unpack their emotional baggage for the first time in seven years. They’re struggling to cope with the mess they shoved into a dark corner of their minds. Now, face to face, it’s impossible to ignore all the destructive feelings they’ve kept bottled up. Baoshu is understandably resentful, spending years in jail for a woman that abandoned him before he got out. That is time Meiyun cannot give back to him, no matter how hard she tries.
On the other hand, Meiyun’s guilt is overwhelming. Seeing him again is a reminder of his sacrifice and a debt she can never repay. But that doesn’t stop her from trying. Meiyun bends over backwards to help Baoshu. She tries to make him comfortable throughout his treatment and makes reparations for his reckless errors. She becomes almost obsessed with earning his forgiveness, even at her own expense as she overlooks his sometimes inexcusable behaviour. Baoshu, conversely, only sees an opportunity to exact some small level of revenge by making her life more difficult.
Once the characters cross paths, their expressions are permanently set to dejected. In spite of their near monotone conversations, the actors load their exchanges with vitriol and supplication respectively. Shangjun keeps the camera close, falsifying an intimacy that no longer exists between the pair. With no distracting music cues, audiences are deeply and uninterruptedly immersed in the raw entanglement. Inevitably, the experience changes Meiyun and Baoshu, but their transformations are more subtle, and more satisfying, than the typical Hollywood epiphany.
The Sun Rises on Us All screened as part of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Head here to get all our That Shelf TIFF coverage.
