Mistress Dispeller, the new documentary by Hong Kong–born director Elizabeth Lo (Stray) centers on Wang Zhenxi, a professional “mistress dispeller,” whose self-styled service intervenes in marital infidelity.
The film also follows Mr. Li, Mrs. Li, and Fei Fei – the mistress – painting a full picture of the emotionally tangled triangle.
With actress Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians, Fresh Off the Boat) among its executive producers, Mistress Dispeller made its world premiere at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival, then went on to screen at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. It will be released theatrically, opening on Wednesday, October 22 at New York’s IFC Center followed by LA’s Laemmle Monica Film Center and Laemmle Noho on Friday, October 24, with a national rollout will follow.
Here is the synopsis: In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage – and break up affairs – by any means necessary. Offering astonishing access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
In a conversation with Documentary.org, Elizabeth Lo explained why this particular “love industry” drew her in. She said, “After making Stray, which took place in Turkey, I knew I wanted to set a film in mainland China as a way to get to know this huge country better that I didn’t know so well, even though I grew up in Hong Kong. I also wanted to challenge myself as a filmmaker and to tell a love story in the nonfiction form because I’ve always loved romance films, but the type of love that I saw in those Hollywood films was different than the love that I experienced in my own life and witnessed within my own family; a love where things are often left unsaid. I was interested in making a portrait of how a woman navigates society through the marginalized perspective of a mistress and looking at what that says about love, family, and the structures that we abide by.”
Watch the official trailer for Mistress Dispeller, above.
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