Mistress Dispeller

A woman is hired to break up an extramarital affair in this poignant, multi-award-winning documentary account of devotion, desire and the human thirst for connection. For the innovative service providers of China’s booming romance economy, infidelity presents just another business opportunity. When she discovers that her husband is being unfaithful, Mrs Li enlists a ‘mistress dispeller’, Wang Zhenxi, to unravel the affair and save her marriage. In no time, Wang ingratiates herself with Mr Li and the young Fei Fei in search of any fissures that could drive them apart. Far from being a cheap chronicle of messy infidelity, however, what emerges is an empathetic study of individuals trying their best to heed what their hearts are telling them. Taking inspiration from Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (MIFF 2025), Elizabeth Lo’s (Stray, MIFF 2021) documentary uses unbroken long takes to allow its subjects to lay their dreams and fears bare for the camera, ensuring no person becomes the butt of easy judgement. Garnering accolades at Venice, Chicago and beyond, Mistress Dispeller is an absorbing, eye-opening film about tradition, the trials of intimacy and the challenges of putting one’s happiness in the hands of others. “Engages its audience through an earnest empathy with all three parties, and a daring openness between subject and filmmaker … Elegantly constructed, ethically created, and thought-provokingly humane.” – Mashable