Taking the clickbait

Director Xin Yukun's third outing, Trending Topic, provides a cautionary tale about taking sensational social media posts at face value.

For a period of time, director Xin Yukun found himself addicted to the internet. During the evenings, he was constantly attached to his smartphone, engrossed in the trending topics on multiple social media platforms.

As a result, the filmmaker, who shot to fame with his directorial debut The Coffin in the Mountain (2015), noticed a gradual decline in his overall well-being, with his mood becoming negatively affected due to the excessive time he spent surfing the internet.

In an attempt to overcome the addiction, Xin has imposed time limits on frequently used apps, with each one set to just 15 minutes a day. However, the experience has also prompted him to look deeper into how each person is influenced by this rapidly expanding internet landscape.

"When you start paying attention to a trending online event, you may find that there are some twists and turns that make you curious: What is the truth? What impact can online public opinion exert to influence the course of an event?" Xin recalled during an interview with China Daily.

That inspired the conception of his latest directorial outing, Trending Topic, which was released domestically on Nov 30.