Shanghai Over 24 Hours: A City That Never Actually Breathes

Is it worth the watch?

If you like movies that feel like a long, hazy walk through a city you don't know, you’ll probably dig this. It’s got that specific vibe—damp pavement, flickering lights, and people staring out of taxi windows looking sad. If you need a plot that actually moves from A to B, or if you get annoyed when characters just wander around eating noodles while staring into the middle distance, skip it. You will absolutely hate it.

There’s this one sequence about halfway through where someone is just standing on a bridge, and the camera stays on them for, I swear, an eternity. It’s not poetic. It’s just long. I started looking at the popcorn bucket to see if I missed any kernels.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Shanghai Over 24 Hours (1933) through its definitive frames.

The Rhythm Problem

The film moves like it’s trying to wake up from a nap. Sometimes the pacing is so slow I forgot what the characters were even looking for. Then, out of nowhere, there’s a frantic chase through a wet alleyway that feels like it belongs in a totally different movie.

Boxun Zhou looks like he’s tired of being in the frame, honestly. There’s a specific look he gives the camera—a sort of squinty, 'is this scene done yet?' kind of expression. It’s strangely relatable.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Shanghai Over 24 Hours (1933) through its definitive frames.

It’s not as tight as Red Lips, which knew exactly when to cut away. This one just lets scenes bleed out until they’re bone dry.

• The neon lighting is actually pretty great, even if it’s trying a bit too hard to be cool.
• The sound design is mostly just city noise, which is nice until it becomes grating.
• There’s a cat that appears in three different scenes for no reason at all. I think the cat was the best actor.

There are moments where the movie stops trying to be clever and just looks at the architecture. Those are the best parts. Just the buildings, the rust, the wires hanging overhead. It’s much more honest than the dialogue. The dialogue, unfortunately, is a bit of a slog. It feels like it was written by someone who read a book about how people talk but never actually went outside.

Watching this reminded me a bit of the aimless energy in The Grain of Dust, but with more espresso and fewer stakes. If you’re looking for a masterpiece, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a mood piece that you can half-watch while folding laundry, this is your winner. 🌃