What’s in the Darkness

A sleepy town in Henan province, central China, 16 May 1991. The naked corpse of a young woman is found by the lake and is identified as that of a student who’s been raped. A cross symbol is cut into her thigh. One of the local policemen on the case is Qu Zhicheng (Guo Xiao), who studied forensic medicine at college; his boss is Cao, who simply wants a conviction as soon as possible. The whole town takes an interest in the case, including Qu Zhicheng’s quietly rebellious teenage daughter Qu Jing (Su Xiaotong), who’s always being scolded by her mother (Liu Dan).