Mistress Dispeller

Mistress Dispeller” isn’t really about Wang, or her methods...It’s about the mysteries of the human heart. Its exploration of these subtle depths is sensitive, as are its conclusions.

The film is sensitively attuned to how people’s feelings are shaped by cultural norms.

Lo’s construction of each person’s story grants them dignity and compassion. And their agreement at the end speaks volumes about what they saw in the film, too.

The result is a sharp-eyed, open-ended inquiry into marriage and romance.

For all that the film proposes to convey about a unique industry and intimate access, we’re left with a lot of pretty surfaces made all the more frustrating by how close it brushes something greater.