A Writer's Odyssey

A Writer's Odyssey (Chinese: 刺杀小说家) is a 2021 Chinese action-adventure fantasy film directed and written by Lu Yang and produced by Ning Hao, starring Lei Jiayin, Yang Mi, Dong Zijian, Yu Hewei, and Guo Jingfei. The film was released February 12, 2021, on Chinese New Year. The film is based on Shuang Xuetao's novel of the same name, and its sequel Godslayer.

Six years after his young daughter Juzi, nicknamed Tangerine, disappears during a human trafficking abduction, former bank employee Guan Ning becomes obsessed with finding her. His relentless search destroys his marriage, drains his finances, and leaves him wandering across China following rumors of missing children. Guan repeatedly attacks suspected traffickers and criminal groups, earning a reputation as a mentally unstable vigilante.

During one of his confrontations with traffickers, Guan is arrested by police. He is unexpectedly released by Tu Ling, a mysterious employee working for powerful technology conglomerate Aladdin Group. Tu Ling brings Guan to the company’s wealthy and physically frail chairman, Li Mu. Li Mu reveals that he can help Guan locate Tangerine, but only if Guan agrees to assassinate a young novelist named Lu Kongwen.

Lu Kongwen is writing an online fantasy novel called Godslayer, which follows a heroic young man also named Kongwen. In the fantasy world, Kongwen is guided by a sentient Black Armor warrior as he attempts to overthrow the tyrannical ruler Redmane, a gigantic four-armed demonic god who controls the city of Redmane. Li Mu believes the events in the novel are somehow affecting reality. Whenever Redmane is injured in the story, Li Mu suffers physical pain and worsening illness in the real world. Fearing the novel will ultimately cause his death, Li Mu orders Tu Ling to eliminate the writer before he can finish the story.

Guan begins tracking Lu Kongwen and discovers that the author is not a famous celebrity but a struggling young man living modestly with help from his mother. As Guan observes him, he notices increasingly strange connections between the fantasy narrative and reality. Guan himself has recurring dreams of the same fantastical city described in Kongwen’s novel, and events in the real world begin mirroring scenes from the manuscript.

Inside the fantasy world, Kongwen journeys through a ruined landscape terrorized by Redmane’s forces. He is protected by Black Armor, a mysterious warrior bound to him by fate. Kongwen learns that Redmane murdered his family and enslaved the population through fear and supernatural power. During his travels, Kongwen encounters a young girl warrior who resembles Tangerine. Guan gradually becomes convinced that his missing daughter somehow exists within the fantasy realm connected to the novel.

Although Guan initially intends to kill Lu Kongwen, he begins sympathizing with him after realizing the writer is unaware of the supernatural consequences of his work. Guan also discovers that Tu Ling is conflicted about her loyalty to Li Mu. As the novel approaches its climax, the boundary between fiction and reality weakens further. Injuries suffered by Redmane increasingly affect Li Mu’s body, while events in the fantasy realm trigger violent consequences in the real world.

Li Mu eventually reveals his true motives and uses assassins and corporate resources to force Guan into completing the murder. Guan instead turns against Li Mu and fights the company’s enforcers while Kongwen confronts Redmane in the fantasy world. During the simultaneous battles, Guan realizes that Li Mu and Redmane are spiritually connected manifestations of the same evil force.

In the fantasy realm, Kongwen and Black Armor battle Redmane in the collapsing city. In reality, Guan fights Li Mu’s agents and survives a brutal confrontation with the armored assassin Black Armor’s real-world counterpart. As Kongwen mortally wounds Redmane, Li Mu suffers catastrophic injuries. The destruction of Redmane breaks the supernatural link connecting the two worlds.

After Li Mu’s downfall, Guan receives evidence that Tangerine may still be alive. He resumes searching for his daughter with renewed hope rather than despair. Meanwhile, Lu Kongwen survives and continues writing, now aware that his stories possess the power to reshape reality itself.

• Lei Jiayin as Guan Ning
• Yang Mi as Tu Ling
• Dong Zijian as Kongwen Lu, the novelist
• Yu Hewei as Li Mu
• Guo Jingfei as Black Armor
• Tong Liya as Pan Ruo
• Dong Jie as Guan Ning's wife

Post-production lasted over two years.^[2][3]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.^[4]

Harris Dang of The AU Review gave the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote: "Overall, A Writer's Odyssey is an entertaining thrill ride that provides enough wild action, energy, creativity, and visual splendor to satisfy audiences."^[5][6] Richard Kuipers of Variety said "Odyssey is packed with stunning sights including a 50-ft., four-armed CGI villain but is let down by a script that fails to fashion promising story elements into a consistently compelling whole."^[7]

Narayan Liu of CBR.com gave the film a positive review, praising its visuals, while noting the weak characterization.^[8] Lim Yian Lu of Yahoo! Singapore gave the film a positive review, describing it as a "a great action film to watch."^[9]

Tay Yek Keak of Today Online gave the film a more negative review, describing it as "basically a viewer's ordeal."^[10]

• A Writer's Odyssey at IMDb