"Habitat" by Chinese Director Zhang Luoping is a suspenseful and atmospheric thriller, a mesmeric eye-catcher.

It tells the story of Liang Yan, a young and elegant music teacher who finds herself suddenly alone with a daughter to care for, when her husband is reported dead at his workplace. The official account is that he has been killed in a fire, and the arsonist who caused it is on the run. But Liang Yan can’t accept this version of the truth.

She senses that something somewhere has gone terribly wrong and starts dangerously digging. The woman embarks on a journey, through the squalid suburbs of a Chinese town, facing a ruthless and corrupted world that has no mercy for the poorest and weakest.

Malaika Bova