[6] The abusive owner of a noodle shop in the desert in China plans the murder of his adulterous wife and her lover but it goes awry after various characters' intertwined stories lead to double crosses and fatalities.

The website's critical consensus states: "Zhang Yimou's broad reinterpretation of the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple struggles to bring anything new to the twisty murder mystery and instead ladles on an excess of stilted comedy".

Elley also noted, "Coen aficionados won't be surprised by any of the subsequent twists in the tale, and general auds will be pleasantly amused, as Zhang tries to manipulate events for his own purposes.

"[1] Maggie Lee of The Hollywood Reporter is more mixed on the film, and described it as "a high-rolling but garish production with untranslatable regional ribald humor", and noted the changes from the original with "pacing is much more frenetic with characters and cameras in restless motion.

Lee further stated: "Zhang has traded Texas' oppressively bleak vista for China's visually intoxicating desert landscape for this enthralling film, at once hilarious and cruelly ironic.