Feng Zu, the writer, director and lead actor of SUMMER OF CHANGSHA takes centre stage in this slow-burn tale of grieving detective A Bin, as he attempts to discover why a severed arm has mysteriously washed up on a beach in the Hunan province of China. Unfortunately, whatever intrigue the opening creates is quickly buried beneath a morass of forgettable characters and irredeemable pacing issues.

A Bin spends as much time dwelling on his tragic past as he does working on the case, and while this is nothing new to the genre, SUMMER OF CHANGSHA approaches Bin’s self-reflection with an austere lack of energy. Characters spend significant portions of the film staring listlessly into the distance, devoid of life and personality. The cinematography, while perfectly serviceable, is similarly drab, and the soundtrack is minimal to the point of practically non-existent. The third act, while stylistically inconsistent with the rest of the film, goes some way to remedying the monotony, however it’s simply not enough to regain the momentum the film has spent the past hour and a half throwing away.

It’s a shame, because there are good ideas. A Bin’s spiritual questioning makes a welcome change from the dour, moping silences that usually fill his time on screen, and Feng Zu’s performance, while one-note, has a sense of forlorn physicality to it that drives home the sense of constant torment informing every scene. A better pacing could be the film’s saving grace, but Zu seems intent on dragging each moment out for as long as possible – drawing attention away from the thoughtful interludes and his own impressive acting in the process.

SUMMER OF CHANGSHA sets out to be an intriguing, philosophical detective noir, but tedious pacing, a complacent, overlong script and lacklustre execution leave the feature feeling grey.