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In recent years, Chinese-language crime suspense films set in Southeast Asia have emerged in large numbers, and a homogeneous routine has been formed in terms of story mode and audio-visual style.

Domestic violence, school bullying, and parent-child revenge are common elements of the plot. Gloomy and damp rainy days, dark and dim interior lighting, and blood-spattered faces are standard visual motifs.

These elements can be found in Kevin Kwan's new film, "The Silence of the Lambs." However, compared with a number of similar Chinese-language crime films with Southeast Asian backgrounds, "The Silence of the Lambs" is still different.

As of the time of writing, the national box office of "The Silent War" has approached the 1 billion mark, which can be said to have ignited the "first fire" for this year's summer season.

The most impressive highlight of this film is its positive portrayal of the cruelty of school bullying against girls.

School bullying became a hot topic on the Internet in the mid-to-late 2000s. At that time, more and more bullies filmed the bullying process and uploaded the videos to the Internet. The early school bullying videos that circulated had a significant feature - middle school girls were the main force. The cruelty of the bullying methods, the socialization of the students' behavior, and the deep trauma of the victims made people realize for the first time the severity and widespread nature of school bullying.

In the more than ten years since then, with the popularization of the Internet and smart phones, bullying videos have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and videos of bullying girls still account for the majority, with more far-reaching dissemination and influence.

However, few Chinese films dare to show the cruelty of bullying against girls. "Silent Killing" fills this gap. Bullying is the core event that affects the characters in the film, and is the root cause of the characters' fate and subsequent cases. The two bullying scenes in the film also show the destructive power of challenging the senses and impacting the soul.

At the beginning of the film, a group of girls bully the mute heroine Xiaotong. They glued Xiaotong to the wall like Jesus on the cross, covered her with mud, and finally sealed her mouth with glue. In the latter part of the film, the bullies put a "crown of thorns" on Xiaotong's friend, the mentally retarded girl Huijun. The thorns pierced her scalp, and blood circulated. Then the bullies cut Huijun's hair, soaked the broken hair in water to make "hair vegetable soup", and forced it into Huijun's mouth with water and hair.

The two bullying scenes may seem extreme, but they are not exaggerated compared to the real bullying videos that are common on the Internet. The performances of the young actresses are also accurate, whether it is the madness and hideousness of the bullies or the psychological trauma of the victims, they are chilling and empathetic.

The case in the film took place in 2006, when videos of school bullying of girls were first beginning to emerge on the Chinese Internet.

Therefore, the bullying elements in "The Silent Killer" are not just entertainment gimmicks, but also show a rare social reflection attitude in suspense crime films.

The key to this film's superiority over similar works is its courage to face the dark truth of school bullying and reflect on the harmful effects caused by bullying.

Another highlight of "Silent Murder" is the smooth and clear narrative. Ke Wenli has already demonstrated his control over suspense stories in his famous work "The Accidental Murderer". The setting of multiple characters and multiple motives in this film contains more information and is more complex than "The Accidental Murderer".

Sufficient information and character background stories are indeed necessary conditions for an excellent suspense film. However, how to tell a complex story in a way that is both suspenseful and clear is also a challenge to the director's narrative ability.

The first thing that "The Murderer" does is to keep the plot moving forward from beginning to end. Every scene reveals new information about the key mystery. No matter how intense the emotional portrayal of the characters is, it is closely integrated with the development of the plot.

Except for the ending, there are few scenes in the whole film that require the plot to be stopped, which are simply used to convey information, express emotions, and sculpt characters. Important information and character creation are integrated with the main line, and the gradual progress of the plot and the deepening of the characters are mutually causal. This is the necessary quality of a high-level suspense film.

While keeping the plot moving smoothly, the film's narrative levels are clear enough, and it knows how to present the most appropriate amount of information at the most appropriate time.

The play uses several key reversals as coordinate points to divide the entire story into several major mysteries: Who killed the group of girls who bullied? Why did Xiaotong disappear? Is Li Han a violent mother? What is the mystery of Lin Zaifu's background?

These mysteries lead the development of the story in different sections, and the cumulative connections between them gradually become richer. The fragments are gathered into a complete picture, outlining the mental journey of each character.

The core of the narrative of "Silent Killing" is to start with suspense and end with characters. When the truth is revealed at the end, the foreshadowings laid before are reviewed one by one, and the motivations of the characters are clear.

The understanding of the character's inner world leads the audience to restore the ins and outs of the story, and the clarity of logic strengthens the audience's resonance with the character.

Although the plot and characters of "Silent Murder" are integrated, the characterization still shows a sense of suspension. Everyone's criminal motives and emotional motivations can be explained logically, but the presentation is too rough and lacks delicate and natural carving.

This results in some scenes that focus on revealing human nature and exploring the characters' emotions being too obviously purposeful, and the sensationalism at the end being a bit too much.

However, in the final analysis, "The Silent Murder" is a hardcore suspense crime film, and the character's motivations and mental journeys are all serving the suspense, rigor and twists of the plot.

From this point of view, being able to unravel the mystery, the ups and downs, and being able to face the cruelty of school bullying among Chinese girls is already qualified enough.