[2] The film is based on the novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi, by author Geling Yan.

[1] It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival,[4] but was withdrawn shortly before the screening.

[5] The official explanation for the withdrawal is "technical difficulties encountered during post-production",[6] but critics suspected politically motivated censorship.

[7][8] It would later screen as a gala presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, with Neon acquiring the film's US distribution rights prior to the festival.

[10] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".