Zhi yin

Although there are some familiar ideas here, Guidance is a unique film that will not only make you think, but curious about the technology that awaits us in the near future. It explores how we can use technology that is actually being developed to help humans more easily be 'encouraged' to live by virtues such as in this case truthfulness, which is an interesting unique concept for a film to begin with We always want to know if there is a way to 'cheat' to allow us to become better. The interesting question this film asks is 'would it work'? Once someone could tell you were lying, you would probably feel obliged to acquire the same ability to level the playing field.

What is even more interesting is that this is a Chinese film from a Canadian director. As someone who has lived in China long enough to experience how white lies are a very pervasive and acceptable part of the culture, it poses an even more interesting question to an audience that may be most intrigued by this idea.

However, when you ignore the language of the film, it could really be set anywhere and it still provides thought provoking ideas.

That being said, this is after all a 'relationship drama' set in the future, so if your curious about the idea of acquiring virtue by turning your body into a quantum computer aka 'NIS' and running an app called 'Guidance' to give you an advantage in negotiations / relationships you may be let down by the fact that this is a film about conflicted characters in flawed relationships. But maybe even if that is not really your thing you will appreciate the film for its unique scenery of China, a glimpse into a possible near future, and an unpredictable ending that is sure to catch most off guard.

Not the usual type of movie I would go for, however when I started watching it I was completely taken in by the performances of the actors which were really authentic and made it easy to care about them and their relationship struggles. Really thought provoking movie with plenty on offer for everyone. The movie is capped off with really beautiful cinematography. Highly recommend!!

Guidance brilliantly explores notions of truth, forgiveness, individual choice and culpability, and gives us a glimpse into what our imminent future may look like: where discernment and decisioning is devolved to artificial intelligence.

The cinematography in this film is breathtakingly beautiful; the reduced hue and saturation, the use of old anamorphic lenses that create a depth of colour, lens flares, stunning bokeh, and fuzzy imperfections... but perhaps quite uniquely, the aspect ratio of the film changes throughout its screening... perhaps to denote a timeline, where the moments post activation of Guidance seem to be in greater focus - the 4:3 medium allows us to focus on the faces of the characters, and set aside the otherwise stunning out of focus tapestry that the anamorphic shots of the moments prior to Guidance provide. Perhaps this change in aspects symbolises a dulling of life through the reduction of nuance that an imperfect world provides, or the coming into "focus" that the certainty of "knowing the truth" implies.

Ultimately also, this film explores the idea that one can convince oneself of any "truth" and thus rob oneself of the opportunity to learn and grow from one's past missteps.

Great film. Strong acting, interesting story, nice twists, beautiful shots, and nice effects. Enjoyed this one, and am looking forward to what this team does next.

Slow burn and beautiful to watch - but the thing that kept me thinking for days was the dawning realization of the potential reality of this kind bio tech and now suddenly AI is blowing up in the news at the same time. So glad I caught this little gem on the plane. It was overly ambitious and that's not a bad thing in this case because it kept its identity and made sure to contain my expectations within the small universe created in the story. The actors I didn't recognise but then again I don't watch that many Chinese films but I thought they hit all cylinders. And the music was really gripping.