''We Girls'' () is a 2025 Chinese

crime drama film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by

Feng Xiaogang Feng Xiaogang ( zh, s=冯小刚, t=馮小剛, p=Féng Xiǎogāng; born 18 March 1958 in Beijing) is a Chinese filmmaker and actor. Rising to fame for directing comedies, Feng played a pivotal role in shaping the Chinese New Year films, with f ...

. It stars

Zhao Liying Zhao Liying ( zh, s=赵丽颖, born October 16, 1987), also known as Zanilia Zhao, is a Chinese actress. She rose to prominence with the historical drama '' Legend of Lu Zhen'' (2013), followed by the television dramas '' Boss & Me'' (2014), ' ...

Lan Xiya Lan Xiya (; born 22 December 1998) is a Chinese actress and singer. Early life Born in 1998 in Enshi City in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Lan is of Tujia ethnicity. In 2021, she graduated from the Department of Theatre Performance ...

, Chuai Ni, Naomi Wang, and

Cheng Xiao Cheng Xiao (; , born July 15, 1998) is a Chinese singer, dancer, and actress. She made her debut as a member of the South Korean girl group WJSN in 2016. In early 2018, she began her solo activities in China and took a hiatus from the group sin ...

as a group of female prisoners who rebuild their lives after reentering society. The film was theatrically released on April 4, 2025.

Synopsis

In order to buy a ¥200,000

cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted Neuroprosthetics, neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for imp ...

for her daughter, Gao Yuexiang takes a desperate risk and ends up being sentenced to prison. Through this experience, she meets Heimei, Deng Hong, Hu Ping, and Guo Aimei. Though each of them has a different personality, they all share a defiant attitude toward life, refusing to give in or accept fate. Together, they face life's challenges, support one another through adversity, and strive to live with hope and resilience.

Cast

as Gao Yuexiang *

as Heimei * Chuai Ni as Deng Hong * Naomi Wang as Hu Ping *

as Guo Aimei

Production

On July 22, 2024, the production side released a concept poster, announcing that the film is directed by

and stars

in the lead role, and that filming is currently underway. ''We Girls'' was shot on location across various parts of

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, including

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

Zhuzhou Zhuzhou ( zh, c=株洲, p=Zhūzhōu, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is ...

, and

Liuyang Liuyang () is a county-level city, the List of County-level divisions of Hunan by population, most populous and the easternmost county-level division of Hunan, Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city ...

Release

On March 3, 2025, a release date poster was unveiled, announcing that the film will be released on April 4.

Reception

Box office

The film's total box office exceeded ¥100 million on April 9, 2025, six days after its release, making it the first domestic film to reach the milestone since the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

period. As of , , the film had earned a cumulative global box office total of ¥230 million.

Critical response

''We Girls'' received positive reviews for its depiction of female ex-prisoners struggling with stigma and survival in modern China. Critics highlighted the chemistry between

and

, as well as the film's blend of gritty realism and emotional storytelling, despite some implausible

plot point In television and film, a plot point is any incident, episode, or event that "hooks" into the action and spins it around into another direction. Three-act structure Noted screenwriting teacher Syd Field discusses plot points in his paradigm, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:We Girls 2025 films 2025 crime films 2025 drama films 2025 crime drama films Chinese crime films Chinese drama films Chinese crime drama films 2020s Chinese films 2020s Mandarin-language films Films shot in Hunan Films set in prison Prison drama films