Lu Ruiqi’s debut feature, Contact Lens, is certainly unique. Boiling it down to the bare bones, the film centres on an unnamed woman (Zhong) as she moves through the mundanity of everyday life in her small apartment in China. Less a slice of life narrative and more an experimental drama, the film is light on dialogue but heavy on interesting filmmaking techniques, social critiques, and symbolism. As a film about self-liberation and feminine confinement, it’s more dreamy than preachy and is certainly a trip - but not one that everyone will enjoy taking.
"It offers a critique of social expectations of women and the pressures they face, but it also celebrates the transformative power of filmmaking by tying this to the titular object, contact lenses, and the idea of just ‘seeing’ as a path to liberation."
Not because it’s a bad film. Not at all, in fact, the presentation is immaculate. Though the film pays homage to Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, there is an unmistakable touch of Wes Anderson, with a sprinkling of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, in terms of shot composition, sound design, characters/subjects, colour palettes, and a good sense of whimsy. The dreamy aesthetic mirrors both auteurs, but Contact Lens isn’t trying to take the baton; it stands as its own story.
As a narrative, Contact Lens has a few layers. It offers a critique of social expectations of women and the pressures they face, but it also celebrates the transformative power of filmmaking by tying this to the titular object, contact lenses, and the idea of just ‘seeing’ as a path to liberation. Ruiqi also places emphasis on everyday objects in the woman’s apartment and how they can be used to tell her story or aid her journey. Water and liquid, especially, play a large part as a central metaphor to the film regarding the woman's hold on her reality.
Though slight in its overall presentation, Contact Lens is an expressive and imaginative film that aims to have a little fun with its subject matter. Given the unorthodox style of the film, this absolutely won’t work for everyone, but it challenges you to give yourself over to just that - its unconventional style.
As a sidenote, I have the exact same grey sofa throw that the young woman in the film does. I was shocked and delighted.
July 23rd 2025