‘Her Heart Beats in Its Cage’ San Sebastian Review: Qin Xiaoyu’s Minimalist Family Portrait

In a format that recalls certain strands of Iranian cinema—where people reenact their own pasts directly for the camera—Her Heart Beats in Its Cage tells, in modest but effective fashion, the story of Zhao Xiaohong. Known simply as “Hong” in the film, she plays herself, recently released after serving ten years of a much longer prison sentence for killing her husband. Her release is granted not only for good behavior but also because, thanks to her singing talent, she had been able to participate in and support arts programs inside the prison.

Freedom, however, comes with its own challenges. Hong must try to reconnect with her young son, Lele (Wang Junyan), whom she barely knows. He has been raised by his paternal grandmother, with whom Hong maintains a civil, even relatively warm relationship. But Lele is shy, quiet, and distant. He does not know the truth about what happened to his father, is deeply attached to his grandmother and Hong struggles to find a way in.

The situation becomes even more delicate when she gets a job in Xi’an, a bustling metropolis far removed from their rural town, and suggests taking Lele with her. From this journey onward, Qin Xiaoyu’s film follows the difficulties of adaptation: Lele adjusting to a new school and Hong trying to navigate life as both an ex-convict and a single mother in a society that offers her little compassion.

Qin avoids melodrama almost entirely—save for a brief moment. His characters, from Hong to her son to a potential new partner, speak little and live their lives quietly, without overt emotional outbursts. The only significant shift comes when Hong discovers she can earn money by live-streaming herself singing, a decision that unsettles Lele.

The director’s approach is calm, even cerebral. The material could have easily leaned on melodrama—there’s a crime in the past, a fractured family, and the stigma of being both an ex-prisoner and a single mother fighting for decent working hours. Yet Qin narrates it all in a muted register, with a mix of restraint and empathy. The serious challenges Hong and her son face are treated with the same understated tone, which paradoxically makes the revelations feel stronger and more poignant.

Her Heart Beats in Its Cage is not a major film, but it is an affecting one. It offers an intimate story from China’s hinterlands, caught between honoring family traditions and confronting the demands of modern life. For Hong, the central dilemma is clear: how to become the mother she never was, while also finding a way to survive in a world that turns its back on her. The quietly emotional ending makes it clear that their journey has only just begun.