She Has No Name (2025): Zhang Ziyi’s Haunting Return in a True-Crime Epic 🩸⚖️

Some stories refuse to fade, echoing across generations. She Has No Name (Chinese: 酱园弄·悬案), directed by acclaimed filmmaker Peter Chan, resurrects one of Shanghai’s most chilling unsolved murder cases from the 1940s. With Zhang Ziyi in a commanding performance as the accused housewife at the center of a grisly crime, this film blurs the line between fact and legend, justice and prejudice.

💡 “The truth is not always what the court demands—it’s what society chooses to believe.”

🕰️ A Murder in 1940s Shanghai

Set during the Japanese occupation, the film follows Zhan Zhou (Zhang Ziyi), a seemingly ordinary housewife accused of brutally dismembering her husband. The case shocks Shanghai, igniting public hysteria. Could a woman, bound by the strict roles of her time, have committed such a crime alone—or was she framed in a conspiracy much larger than her?

The trial becomes not just about Zhan’s guilt, but a reflection of a nation grappling with occupation, social upheaval, and buried misogyny.

🎭 A Towering Cast of Stars

Alongside Zhang Ziyi, the film brings together a remarkable ensemble:

• Jackson Yee as Song, the young revolutionary swept into Zhan’s fate.

• Mei Ting as Wang Chen, a woman whose testimony changes everything.

• Zhao Liying as Xi Lin, a friend torn between loyalty and fear.

• Lei Jiayin as Xue Zhiwu, a prosecutor determined to crush her defense.

Generational storytelling weaves through the narrative, with actresses like Du Kani and Zhao Shuzhen portraying Zhan at different stages of her life—painting a portrait of a woman whose silence screams louder than her words.

🎬 Peter Chan’s Dark Courtroom Epic

Peter Chan crafts a film both intimate and operatic. The 150-minute runtime allows room for sweeping historical context—Shanghai’s neon-lit streets, the looming shadow of war—and the harrowing personal journey of a woman facing not just the death penalty, but erasure.

Cinematography by Jake Pollock bathes the story in noir shadows, while Natalie Holt’s score underlines its tragic inevitability. The courtroom sequences pulse with intensity, rivaling the emotional force of classics like The Crucible and Judgment at Nuremberg.

🌍 Reception & Box Office

Premiering at Cannes (May 24, 2024), She Has No Name drew standing ovations and praise for Zhang Ziyi’s career-defining performance. Its China release on June 21, 2025, propelled it to a $46.2 million box office run, strong for a historical courtroom drama competing against blockbusters.

Critics lauded its blend of true crime, history, and feminist themes—calling it “a haunting reminder of how justice can be silenced by power.”

⚖️ Justice, Memory, and Myth

More than a murder mystery, She Has No Name asks questions that linger:

• Was Zhan Zhou truly guilty?

• Or was she condemned by a society unwilling to see women beyond domestic shadows?

Like the case itself, the film offers no easy answers—only the unsettling reminder that history often forgets the voices of women.

📅 Release Details

• World Premiere: Cannes – May 24, 2024

• China Release: June 21, 2025

• Languages: Mandarin, Shanghainese

• Runtime: 150 minutes

✨ With its gripping performances, sweeping historical scope, and chilling true-crime roots, She Has No Name cements itself as one of 2025’s most powerful dramas—a courtroom saga where the real verdict belongs to the audience.