Mistress Dispeller

Amid the tower blocks of Luoyang, Mr. and Mrs. Li’s marriage is in trouble. But in China, there’s a cottage industry known as “mistress dispelling,” and Mrs. Li has hired a professional to investigate and put an end to her husband’s not-so-secret affair in this emotionally penetrating documentary.In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage—and break up affairs—by any means necessary. Offering strikingly intimate access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife, and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism, and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.