It feels like an understatement to say that dating in the 2020s can feel impossible. On top of safety concerns, the scene is full of people desperate for connection yet terrified of what that actually entails. So, in the unlikely event you meet the perfect person, what happens if you’ll only ever know them for one night? This is the question writer/director Zhao Badou poses in his feature debut, Crossing a Dawn. It’s a distinctly Chinese take on the romance genre with universal resonance.
In the bustling city of Beijing, outgoing interior designer Xu Qiu (Sandra Ma) has spent months scraping the bottom of the dating-app barrel. However, after seemingly swiping on the perfect guy, she discovers she’s been catfished. That same night, Qiu meets Yu Zhou (Edward Chen), a young writer with idealistic notions of true love. The two hit it off and decide to wander the streets together, trying to figure out what this connection could lead to. If this sounds familiar, that’s on purpose. The premise draws heavily from Richard Linklater’s classic Before Sunrise, with Qiu and Zhou even namedropping the film near the end. What keeps Crossing a Dawn from feeling derivative are its leads and the setting.
Unlike Before Sunrise’s Jesse and Celine, Qiu and Zhou are not the same age. Qiu has spent thirteen years in Beijing as opposed to Zhou’s two, so she’s learned to value the moment more than a “happily ever after.” As a writer, Zhou doesn’t know how to do that, obsessed with crafting the perfect endings for his characters. It provides Ma and Chen plenty of opportunities to be lovely together for the rest of the film. Badou is careful to emphasize their small moments of affection. The glances they steal when the other isn’t looking, the way their knees touch when scratching lottery tickets. They even sing the 90’s Journey to the West cartoon theme song at a karaoke booth. It genuinely feels like watching two people fall for each other.
The whole film feels like the perfect fantasy of meeting someone new in a big city, but it doesn’t shy away from some of Beijing’s realities. Like New York City, it is a beautiful but financially punishing place to live. Qiu and Zhou’s biggest obstacle is finding a room to spend the night, since hotels are expensive and they’re both too embarrassed to show the other their apartment. As long as they’re out in public, they can stay in their first-date personas, without any pesky vulnerability. But of course, their comedic misadventures teach them to trust each other. It’s an old-school approach that still works.
Crossing a Dawn is a sweet and breezy romance that analyzes the anxieties of Chinese millennials. Ma and Chen are engaging to watch in a colorful, neon take on Beijing nightlife. While its visual style may owe a great deal to directors like Linklater and Wong Kar-wai, Badou’s script gives the film its own identity. It’s a charming look at how true intimacy can be both frightening and rewarding.
George W. Campbell
George W. Campbell is a director/screenwriter/editor from Bowie, Maryland, whose films focus on themes of family and personal relationships. As a Nicaraguan-American filmmaker, he aims to highlight specific parts of his culture and personal experiences (songs, dances, foods, and language).