Those Who Weather the Storm Together

In early summer along China's southern coast, an extraordinary rainstorm sweeps through Jingzhou City, breaching the levee around Lin Hui's seemingly stable home. The 38-year-old administrative assistant at a private company struggles with looming layoffs while single-handedly supporting a family with elderly parents and young children. Her husband, Zhang Lei, once the very picture of stability, retreats emotionally after a career setback. The traces of his flirtation with a female colleague, lipstick marks and secret money transfers, become the final straw that shatters her trust. When the storm escalates into citywide flooding, submerging underground garages and cutting off communications, Lin Hui must lead her mother, her two children, and her elderly neighbor, Grandma Zhou, in a desperate fight to survive without water or electricity. Zhang Lei, meanwhile, gets trapped in a flooded section of road while trying to escort someone to safety, making the cracks in their family all the more stark amid the disaster.

From shortages at a temporary shelter to clinging to life together after a landslide, from struggles between good and evil under the test of human nature to supporting one another during evacuation, the disaster becomes the harshest test of all. Lin Hui draws on the meticulousness and resilience she developed in administrative work to create a haven for the survivors. After witnessing how fragile life is, Zhang Lei finally comes to his senses and tries, clumsily, to make amends for the past. Her sensitive daughter, her wide-eyed son, the wise Grandma Zhou, and Zhao Wei, a responsible boss, each face their own choices amid the flood. Li Na's quiet departure avoids the usual harsh condemnation, instead bringing the complexity of emotions to life with greater honesty.