Always Have Always Will, China, drama, Li Xueqin, Liu Jie, Lyu Xingchen, movies, Peng Yuchang, reviews, Wei Daxun, Yang Enyou, Zou Yuanqing
March 27, 2025
by Carla Hay
“Always Have Always Will” (2025)
Directed by Liu Jie
Mandarin with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Nanjing, China, the dramatic film “Always Have Always Will” features an all-Asian group of people representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A suicidal man gets a new lease on life when a 9-year-old girl with brain cancer befriends him.
Culture Audience: “Always Have Always Will” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and bittersweet stories about friendships between people with medical issues.
“Always Have Always Will” is a lovely film about an unlikely friendship between a suicidal man and a precocious 9-year-old girl who has brain cancer. This drama has excellent depictions of joy and heartbreak, with a standout performance from Yang Enyou.
Directed by Liu Jie, “Always Have Always Will” (not to be confused with the Chinese 2021 TV series of the same name) was written by Yang Fuzhi, Zhang Jiajia and Guo Tao. The movie takes place primarily in Nanjing, China. It’s where Song Yili (played by Peng Yuchang) lives and where he has decided he wants to die. The beginning of the movie shows that Yili has become so depressed, he wants to commit suicide.
Yili, who is in his late 20s or early 30s, is a divorced bachelor who has no friends and is unemployed. He has talented cooking skills, but the restaurant that he inherited from his deceased mother has been out of business for the past six months. Within the first five minutes of the movie, Yili is shown sitting in his parked car on a street as he is about to take an overdose of pills.
But as fate would have it, another car accidentally rams into Yili’s car. Yili wakes up in a hospital room, where has find out that was he only got some minor injuries as a result of this accident. Yili is also told that the driver of the other car takes full responsibility for the collision.
Yili isn’t exactly thrilled that his suicide attempt failed. He shows all the indications of being clinically depressed. Yili also secretly plans to try to kill himself again. Hs ex-wife Tian Meihua (played by Zou Yuanqing) briefly visits him at the hospital because she is the person who’s listed as his emergency contact. Before she leaves, she tells Yili that he should probably change his emergency contact information.
Someone comes into Yili’s life and will change his perspective. Yu Xiaoju (played by Yang Enyou) is a 9-year-old girl with brain cancer. She is staying at the same hospital and first meets Yili when she mischievously runs away from her unnamed mother (played by Lyu Xingchen) and hides in Yili’s hospital room. Xiaoju is friendly and has a zest for life.
Yili doesn’t want this kid to hang around him, but Xiaoju persists and ends up hiding in Yili’s van after he is discharged from the hospital. Xiaoju begs him to help him find her father, whom she has not seen in years. And so, Yili and Xiaoju end up going on a life-changing road trip. Xiaoju tricks Yili into thinking that her mother has approved of this trip.
On this road trip, Yili and Xiaoju have meaningful encounters with Yili’s former college roommate and a lovelorn businesswoman. Yili and Xiaoju meet up with Yili’s former college roommate Fang Kuaiqi (played by Wei Daxun), whose nickname is Diamond Seven, because Yili wants to borrow money from him. The businesswoman, whose name is Xu Jingjing (played by Li Xueqin) randomly meets Yili and Xiaoju when she needs a ride to an important business meeting.
Diamond Seven owns a small gift shop and hasn’t seen or spoken to Yili in a year because Yili cut off contact with him. Through conversations, it’s revealed that Yili, Diamond Seven and Yili’s ex-wife used to be roommates when they were college students. Yili’s divorce, the death of Yili’s mother and the failure of Yili’s restaurant business put Yili on a downward spiral of depression.
The reunion with Diamond Seven (who says Yili gave him that nickname) reveals that Yili wasn’t always pessimistic and grumpy. Diamond Seven and Yili have known each other since childhood. Diamond Seven says that Yili was the only student in their childhood who didn’t bully or taunt Diamond Seven for being disabled. Seeing his longtime friend again reminds Yili of the person he used to be when he was happy.
Xu Jingjing appears to be a confident and independent woman, but she’s distracted by problems in her love life. When she finds out something that is emotionally devastating to her, Yili sees how she copes with it. It inspires him to think about coping with his own problems in a different way from the self-pitying and self-destructive path that he had been taking.
Xiaoju ends up being Yili’s biggest inspiration, despite some rough patches in their friendship. All of the performances in “Always Have Always Will” are heartfelt and believable. But this movie would not work as well without the impressive talent of Yang, who gives one of the best child actor performances of the year. “Always Have Always Will” overflows with emotions and has a story that will stay with viewers long after the movie is over.
Niu Vision Media released “Always Have Always Will” in select U.S. cinemas and in China on March 21, 2025. The movie was released in China on March 8, 2025.