Ash Is Purest White remains one of Jia’s most accessible and discerning films.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 2, 2025

It relies on interesting characters and cosmic moments to visualise the character’s internal struggles.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024

Another masterful chapter of the director’s artistic journey, one that works wonderfully as a point of entry into his oeuvre.

Full Review | Dec 14, 2023

All this makes sound Ash sound funereal, but it’s fun, actively designed for its first 2/3 to allow audiences some uncomplicated enjoyment...

Full Review | Jan 4, 2023

The film is a restless journey through the political and social mainstreaming of China in the first two decades of the 21st century.

Full Review | Oct 6, 2022

Full of empathy, longing, and a surprising amount of restraint considering the film’s gangster element and the eruptive metaphor within its title.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

Overall, watch the film for its powerful story of grassroots gangsters uprooted by the changes around them. It's grim, gritty and yet abundantly entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 20, 2022

Episode 44: Ash Is Purest White / Long Day's Journey into Night / An Elephant Sitting Still

Full Review | Original Score: 62/100 | Oct 4, 2021

There are fascinating glimpses of Chinese life in Ash is the Purest White, and other moments that do not make a strong impression at all.

Full Review | Feb 10, 2021

Zhao Tao plays one of the finest performances of her career so far, the return to form we've been waiting for from Jia Zhangke...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 23, 2020

It's another rigorous film by Chinese director Jia Zhangke about people transiting through Chinese provinces to highlight the earthly effects of globalization on the country's contemporary times. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 25, 2020

The pace at which Jia trudges with this pair of lost souls is beguiling, as is the streak of black comedy coursing through the movie's veins.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2020

Ash Is Purest White is a soul-flooding marvel that will make you feel so many things all at once, which is just one of many reasons it's so remarkable.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 21, 2020

A deep and poignant masterpiece from seasoned filmmaker Jia Zhangke.

Full Review | Jul 17, 2020

A film that feels vividly alive all the way through its 136-minute running time.

Full Review | May 29, 2020

As Qiao, Zhao [Tao] perfectly captures this complex character full of rage, emotion, and determination.

Full Review | Jan 19, 2020

Jia Zhangke has crafted a razor-sharp study of alienation and the corrosiveness of the patriarchy in contemporary China. And Tao is a revelation.

Full Review | Dec 23, 2019

Jia Zhangke highlights the changes China have been experiencing during the last decades, as tradition has succumbed completely to technology, speed and the relentless pursue of money.

Full Review | Dec 1, 2019

...a mesmerizing mood piece about personal alienation and national dislocation.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 7, 2019

Zhao Tao just gives this powerhouse performance. It's so understated and her work -- and the film as a whole -- really do accumulate in their emotional resonance.

Full Review | Sep 23, 2019