Domestic Animation The Child of Time

The Child of Time, released around the 2025 Dragon Boat Festival, defied expectations by outperforming blockbusters like Mission: Impossible 8 with a box office of 78.37 million yuan, becoming the highest-grossing domestic film of the season and adding a vibrant touch to the holiday box office. The film’s exploration of love, life, and time undoubtedly became its most captivating aspect.

The Child of Time was selected as one of the “Top 10 Most Anticipated Animated Films” at the 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Animation Film Week and was among the first batch of recommended projects. The film took five years to meticulously craft, using over 2,000 shots and 40-50 layers of hand-stacked particle effects to create a breathtaking fantasy of flowing golden time-sand.

The opening unfolds at a leisurely pace, depicting life in a fishing village through delicate scenery and character portrayals, establishing the story’s backdrop and shaping personalities. As the adventure shifts to the metropolis, the tempo quickens with action sequences and comedic elements, heightening tension and appeal. In key emotional moments, the director employs slow motion and long takes to decelerate the narrative, immersing viewers in a poignant experience. This dynamic pacing strikes a balance between plot progression and emotional depth, effectively engaging the audience.

The fictional “metropolis” is grounded in old Shanghai, blending the rustic charm of Shikumen alleyways with the glitz of neon-lit dance halls. Giant steampunk gears hover between the flowing sleeves of qipao-clad figures, forming a unique “Shanghai Modern” visual spectacle. However, this bold fusion also sparked debate: the stark contrast between the grimness of gangster chases and the exuberance of musical numbers created tonal disconnects, and some action sequences were criticized as fragmented showcases of technical flair, with “overly mixed elements” becoming a point of contention.

The Child of Time breaks free from traditional linear storytelling, weaving a multidimensional narrative full of tension. Through the perspective of the heroine, Qian Xiao, the film interlaces the daily life of the fishing village with the metropolitan adventure. The director employs “narrative misdirection,” intertwining “a day’s extraordinary encounter” with “a lifetime’s devotion,” subverting the audience’s conventional perception of chronological order.

The core artifact, the “Time Wheel,” serves a dual narrative function. From a narratological perspective, it is not only the key driver of the plot but also a symbol of time manipulation and a cursed fate. The Time Wheel grants Qian Xiao the power to pause time and remain eternally youthful, yet it also imposes its own temporal rules. Recurring motifs like watches and hourglasses, as extensions of the Time Wheel, reinforce the theme of time. These symbols construct a multilayered metaphorical system, visualizing the characters’ struggles against the relentless flow of time and deepening the story’s tragic undertones and sense of destiny.

Its true value lies precisely in the sincerity wrapped within its “imperfections”—in a market dominated by mythological IPs, a team of newcomers spent five years painstakingly polishing an original tale of farewell. This almost stubborn courage itself deserves the loudest applause.