4. 'Journey to the West'

A poster for "Journey to the West." [Image courtesy of China Film Co., Ltd.]

This film is not a retelling of "Journey to the West" featuring the Monkey King, but rather a low-budget sci-fi movie disguised as a pseudo-documentary directed by indie filmmaker Kong Dashan, who later garnered appreciation and support from sci-fi director Frant Gwo.

This unique film combines elements of rural China, sci-fi, alien myths, pseudoscience, satire on superstition, and humor. The protagonist, Tang Zhijun, a middle-aged UFO magazine editor from Beijing, investigates a mass UFO sighting in a remote village with a colleague and a local enthusiast. They encounter a strange poet who claims the mystery's answer lies on a distant mountain. As tensions rise, their road trip evolves into a quirky, comic, and mysterious cult journey of self-discovery. This film stands out as one of the most unique in recent years and presents a new direction for Chinese sci-fi filmmaking — an alternative that diverges from the heavy reliance on visual effects and big budgets.