Gone With The Boat

Synopsis

When Jin, a retired mother in a small town, is diagnosed with a brain tumor, her two children take divergent positions. Her daughter Jenny, head of an English language training center in Shanghai and struggling with her second marriage, insists on seeking the best treatment for her mother. However, Jenny’s younger brother Qing, who works as a tour guide, believes that a fatal outcome is inevitable. Jin spends the last months of her life surrounded by her relatives, while Jenny and Qing rediscover their hometown.  Gone With The Boat (2023) vindicates the rural environment beyond being considered an idealized tourist enclave and as a palliative in the face of instability and family dispersion.