[1] A Lingering Face follows an everyman named Lei Haiyang (Pan Yueming), who has recently broken up with his girlfriend.

Deciding to go to Beijing, he hitches a ride with a driver (Li Min) and a fellow hitchhiker, Yanzi (Ma Xiaoqing).

Waking up from a nap, Haiyang finds the truck parked in the woods and the driver raping Yanzi.

[2] In his review of A Lingering Face for Variety, Derek Elley commented: ... "Set in average, non-touristy Beijing locations, ... the movie has a genuinely offbeat character, without any heavy underlining or condescending to the viewer.

Script keeps several well-drawn characters ... on the boil throughout, and the plot continues to spring surprises right to the very end".