What followed is historically known as the Nanjing Massacre, a period of several weeks wherein massive numbers of Chinese prisoners-of-war and civilians were killed by the Japanese military.

As the Japanese comb the city for enemy forces, Superior Private (later Sergeant) Kadokawa Masao and his men are attacked by Lu Jianxiong and a small unit of both regular and non-regular soldiers, who fire at them from buildings.

Shunzi and a boy called Xiaodouzi survive the shootings and they flee to the Nanjing Safety Zone, run by the German businessman and Nazi Party member John Rabe and other Westerners.

However, the zone is forcefully entered several times by bands of Japanese soldiers intent on making sexual advances on female refugees.

Meanwhile, Kadokawa develops feelings for a Japanese prostitute named Yuriko, and struggles to come to terms with the omnipresent violence around him with his own conflicting impulses.

Rabe's secretary Tang Tianxiang and a teacher named Jiang Shuyun manage the daily operations of the safety zone.

Even though he is in a privileged position, Tang is still unable to protect his young daughter from being thrown out of a window by a Japanese soldier, and his sister-in-law from being raped.

Rabe receives an order to return to Germany because his activities in the safety zone are detrimental to diplomatic ties between his country and Japan.

Shunzi, who survived the earlier mass killings, is physically checked and initially deemed to be a non-combatant, but is later recognised by a Japanese soldier and brought onto a truck as well.

Jiang Shuyun rescues a man, pretending to be his wife, and then returns for Shunzi, claiming that he is her husband, while Xiaodouzi acts as their son.

As the Japanese perform a dance-ritual to celebrate their conquest of Nanjing and honour their war dead, Kadokawa reveals his emotional turmoil over what he has done and witnessed.

The film received a 93% approval rating from critics based on 54 reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 8.4/10.

"[7] Derek Elley of Variety states "at times semi-impressionistic, at others gut-wrenchingly up close and personal, Nanjing massacre chronicle City of Life and Death lives up to hype and expectations.

"[10] Karina Longworth of IndieWire describe the film "manages to convey the total horror of the Japanese atrocities from the perspective of both perpetrators and victims, all with exceptional nuance, sensitivity and sadness" and the film "has the feel of a lost post-War foreign classic, a masterwork implicating the viewer in the horrors of bearing witness.

"[11] Michael O'Sullivan at The Washington Post gave it three out of four stars, elucidating it as "...a muscular, physical movie, pieced together from arresting imagery and revelatory gestures, large and small.