X
In Theaters Now
  • 2024
  • The Criterion Channel
  • 1 h 37 m
  • 2024
  • The Criterion Channel
  • 1 h 37 m
The Breaking Ice

Summary In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China’s northern border, young urbanite Haofeng, visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana, a charming tour guide who instantly fascinates him. She introduces him to Xiao, a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. The three bond quickly over a drunken week...

Directed By: Anthony Chen

Written By: Anthony Chen

In Theaters Now
  • 2024
  • The Criterion Channel
  • 1 h 37 m
  • 2024
  • The Criterion Channel
  • 1 h 37 m

The Breaking Ice

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
71
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China’s northern border, young urbanite Haofeng, visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana, a charming tour guide who instantly fascinates him. She introduces him to Xiao, a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. The three bond quickly over a drunken week...

Directed By: Anthony Chen

Written By: Anthony Chen

Where to Watch

View Showtimes

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
71
75% Positive
9 Reviews
25% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
71
75% Positive
9 Reviews
25% Mixed
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
91
May 22, 2023
Its interweaving of powerful performances and spiritual complexity, eventually melded with local folklore, is nothing short of beautiful.
FULL REVIEW
83
May 22, 2023
This raw and lingeringly sensitive film resonates more strongly when it’s lost in the ice maze than when it’s tracing its steps back to the entrance. The Breaking Ice sticks with you because it doesn’t lead its characters out of the maze, it just melts down the walls between them.
By David Ehrlich FULL REVIEW
80
May 22, 2023
Rich in feeling yet never emotionally emphatic, The Breaking Ice has an uncluttered narrative simplicity that’s mirrored in the shooting style and nicely offset by the nuanced complexity of the relationships. The closing notes of hope and renewal are lovely.
By David Rooney FULL REVIEW
75
Jan 19, 2024
Chen is influenced by the French New Wave, and there are echoes of "Bande à part" and “Jules and Jim.” But do not let the meandering series of scenes, underscoring the characters’ aimlessness, allow you to overlook Chen's precision in even the smallest detail.
By Nell Minow FULL REVIEW
75
Jan 17, 2024
Chen (“Wet Season” was his previous film) has made a movie of familiar themes and recognizable antecedents. But he offsets that by dropping us into an alien world so disorienting that little here neatly fits into a narrative box.
By Roger Moore FULL REVIEW
60
Jan 18, 2024
The setting is rife with metaphoric potential, and it is here that Chen falters as a director.
By Devika Girish FULL REVIEW
50
May 22, 2023
The actors are reasonably charismatic and the film grows increasingly lovely to look at, while failing to really make a case for itself beyond the superficial pleasures.
By Fionnuala Halligan FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company Canopy Pictures, Giraffe Pictures, Huace Pictures
Release Date Jan 19, 2024
Duration 1 h 37 m
Genres
Website https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAC0N-cO5GMImSkb4nEbFEce96e3bSFC880CAqwq5J3VMTsrS0NNRHUzTKiov80Gbz
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Awards

Weibo Awards Ceremony
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Denver International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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