Don't Talk to Strangers: Escape from the Cage

An Jiahe is a renowned surgeon admired by everyone, while Mei Xiangnan's life is tightly bound by surveillance apps on her smartphone and location tracking through her car's dashcam. A photo with a male friend at a class reunion becomes the spark that sets off An Jiahe's obsession. First he deletes her social media accounts, then smashes her phone, and then interrogates her late at night about whether she has been unfaithful. His verbal abuse coils around every hour of her life like a vine.

Mei Xiangnan's attempts to give in are taken as proof that she is hiding something. When the first slap lands, the hand clutching her phone trembles. She tries asking for help, but her mother says, “A man keeping a tight rein on you means he cares,” while her colleagues advise her, “Don't ruin Dr. An's career.” When she secretly records the domestic abuse and tries to find a lawyer, An Jiahe has already woven a web around her in the name of “love,” insisting that “family matters should stay behind closed doors.”

Only when violence tears away the facade of respectability does Mei Xiangnan look at the bruising around her eye in the mirror and finally dial the police. This time, she will not stay silent. She will not only escape An Jiahe's control, but expose to the light of day the abuse hidden beneath the filter of a “perfect family.”