Cinema for Brunch RESURRECTION (2025) Review

A dazzling, transcendent ode to cinema that may alienate some and reward most, Bi Gan’s “Resurrection” is one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences in recent memory.

Synopsis

A woman’s consciousness falls into an eternal time zone during a surgical procedure. Trapped in many dreams, she finds the corpse of an android and tries to wake him up by telling endless stories.

Review
Inserting dream logic into cinema without pretension has been a skill not mastered since David Lynch was living and in the director’s chair. Proving himself to be a successor to the master of cinematic dream logic, Chinese director Bi Gan ups the ante with his surreal, dreamlike ode to cinema itself – “Resurrection”. In a world where people have given up dreaming for longevity of life, there are beings referred to as “Deliriants” who still carry the capacity to dream. One of these Deliriants (played by a fantastically eclectic Jackson Yee) is tracked down by an “Other One” called Miss Shu (Shu Qi). As the Deliriant slowly passes away into death, Miss Shu gives the creature the gift of installing a film projector in his body and experiences the cinematic dreams he projects himself into. Ranging from silent film to film noir to mythic folktale and many more, we witness the Deliriant being “resurrected” through different chapters and in turn, cinema itself is resurrected. A surreal, blended genre of science-fiction and drama upended by an even greater surreal experience while watching it, Bi Gan’s “Resurrection” is as impenetrable in plot as it is in categorization.

To get on Bi Gan’s wavelength takes quite a bit of patience. Beginning in an extended silent, German expressionist-like chapter in which Shu hunts down the deliriant, one can feel like they’ve walked into the wrong film. However, if one just sits back and lets the story play out, the film’s surreal experience will reward them in spades. To discuss the film’s different chapters in detail wouldn’t even begin to spoil what the audience is in for. As the Deliriant resurrects himself chapter after chapter, time after time (decades pass in the Deliriant’s mind as we travel from one story to the next) we’re not only witnessing different eras of cinema, we’re also witnessing different stories corresponding to the six senses in Buddhist thought: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and mind. To say this film works on many levels is an understatement – everything is illuminated with emotional beauty and the power of imagery, from its cinematography to its acting to the directing. The chapters that unfold are brilliant in their brevity and depth – a silent film in which the “Other One” tracks down the Deliriant, a film noir in which the Deliriant is tortured and accused of murder, a mythic tale in which the Deliriant holds palaver with the Spirit of Bitterness as the Spirit yearns for Enlightenment, a crime drama involving the Deliriant planning a con with a young orphan using smell (arguably the most emotional story), a young romance tale set on New Year’s Eve 1999 (arguably the best story as it is arranged in one dazzling take) in which the Deliriant explores a forbidden romance with a young woman as the dawn of a new year slowly arrives and finally, a blissful denouement as a faceless group enters a “theatre of the mind” as the credits roll.

With a subversive, dream-like style as dazzling as anything David Lynch has directed and with a scope as daringly ambitious as Terence Malick’s “The Tree of Life”, Bi Gan proves himself to be one of cinema’s most daring voices with this unforgettable film. “Resurrection” is not only an ode to cinema itself but stands as an example of what makes cinema great. With each diverse story, Gan is not only exhibiting the “dreams” of cinema but also aims to make the audience “feel” something with each chapter. The film works more on a sensory level than on a narrative level, it is totally permissible for the audience to not entirely know what’s going on as long as they “feel” the rush of cinematic power Gan aims to imitate through each “resurrection”. The cinematography is gorgeous as Gan travels through the eras, specifically in the penultimate chapter where the long take goes from a fierce red to blue tint as dawn approaches. On top of the cinematography, it’s worth noting that Jackson Yee gives it his all, giving a wide variety of diverse performances through each of the chapters, proving himself to be a dynamic leading man who knows how to lead an all-encompassing orchestra of cinema such as Gan’s.

Closing Thoughts
“Resurrection” is a delightful odyssey of cinema’s history as well as a representation of the power cinema holds when it is as illuminating as the dreams that carry us to sleep at night. Clocking in at 156 minutes, “Resurrection” may not be for everyone as its languid pace may be an endurance test for some moviegoers but the willingness to go along for its transcendent ride will leave it as one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences in recent memory. This is a dazzling film that is meant for the big screen. See it if you can.

Trailer