A young woman (Zheng) marries for money after sordid rumors label her the town tramp, while her school-dropout brother (Huang) has resigned himself to the only paid gig left: the coal pits. But their father (Luo), his heart fixed on a lover who fled decades ago, offers a respite from the bleakness. An unflinching, unshakable portrait of rural Chinese life in a broken economy, The Shaft meditates on the indignities and resolve of a powerless working class. Yet hope springs eternal in unlikely places; the elder still dares to dream, even if his children can’t.—S. James Snyder
Opens Thu 21 at MoMA