Winning a Berlinale Encounters Special Jury Award, this domestic noir is the arresting first feature from Melbourne-trained Short Film Palme d’Or winner Qiu Yang.

Cai, a dissatisfied fortysomething parent, finds her already-fraying life spinning out of control after an accident. The incident drives a wedge between Cai and almost everyone in her family: her rebellious teenage daughter, her soon-to-be ex-husband (if he’ll only sign the divorce papers), and her exasperating parents and in-laws. It also sparks more sinister repercussions, forcing Cai to confront her past in order to salvage her present.

The anticipated feature-length debut from MIFF Accelerator Lab alumnus Qiu Yang – whose shorts include the Palme d’Or–winning A Gentle Night (MIFF 2017) and the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize–awarded She Runs (MIFF 2019) – is a compelling and complex masterwork. Ostensibly an intimate family drama built around its protagonist’s midlife existential crisis, in Yang’s confident hands it is infused with palpable suspense as well as subtle but pinprick-sharp class commentary. An extraordinary central performance from Yu Aier and breathtaking cinematography from regular collaborator Constanze Schmitt further underscore the truly impressive feat that is Some Rain Must Fall.

“Substantial and stylish … A bristling family drama with elements drawn from film noir and suspenseful psychological thrillers.” – South China Morning Post