The premise of _Du Sie Er & Wir_ (The Four of Us) starts off promising: four friends, two couples, a partner-swapping experiment lasting four weeks, all governed by the rules of an "adult experiment." The stage is perfectly set for a biting, provocative, and daring social critique.
The problem is that as the film unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that someone forgot to hire a real screenwriter. The script relies on superficial dialogue, predictable situations, and characters who-despite the actors' efforts-fail to rise above the surface.
There's a lack of dramatic depth. The film seems lost between its desire to be provocative and its reluctance to truly dig deep, resulting in a flimsy development with no narrative pulse and no real evolution of conflict. The "big idea" is there-yes, the critique of traditional relationship models, the exploration of desire, insecurity, envy, and jealousy-but everything remains at the level of intention.
The writing is apathetic, unable to truly provoke the viewer or deliver any genuine discomfort. The characters are underdeveloped, and this is a basic error: there's no emotional evolution, no impact. The script merely skims the surface of its major themes without the courage to dive in, as if it's afraid to get its hands dirty. The result is a film that promises revolution and delivers little more than empty talk disguised as "contemporary drama."
In the end, _Du Sie Er & Wir_ is a beautiful display window with no product. It has style, it has aesthetic, it has that pretentious "look how modern and free we are" attitude, but it lacks substance, courage, and structure. I give it a 6, and I might be being generous. The film lacked a script, but had plenty of attitude.