Sony Pictures Classics Presents
Synopsis

"Shower" examines the current state of Chinese culture where traditions are being abandoned by the modern world.

A young wealthy businessman's icy attitude toward his working-class background is about to thaw as he is forced to reconnect with his elderly father and mentally challenged younger brother, who together run a public bathhouse.

After receiving a cryptic postcard from his brother, Da Ming (Pu Cun Xin) believes that his elderly father has died. He takes time off from his high-paying job in the ultra-modernized region of Shenzhen to head north to the home of his youth in Beijing.

Here he finds his father alive and well. In fact, it appears to Da Ming that nothing has changed in the old neighborhood. His father, Master Liu (Zhu Xu) still spends his days wearing only a towel. He owns a public men's bathhouse. His customers have become his family. They loyally come to the baths every day to soak in the hot tubs, get massaged, and reveal their deepest secrets. Here, stripped of social restrictions, they believe they can find the solutions to their problems.

Once again throwing in the towel on his father and brother, Er Ming (Jiang Wu), Da Ming prepares to rush back to his fast-paced life. Da Ming seems to regard everything in his home town - from the deteriorating bathhouse to Er Ming's constant need for attention to his father's leisurely attitude to life - with a silent contempt. But there seems to be a shift in Da Ming's perception when Er Ming turns up missing and his father blames the self-absorbed Da Ming. Convinced that his stoic older son looks down on his old-fashioned lifestyle, Master Liu defends his life: "I've done this all my life and I do it well. You want to do big things. You want to make money. Go ahead! Er Ming and I are fine without you."

Da Ming, who up until now had shunned baths for more practical showers, reluctantly surrenders to the responsibilities of family and trades in his three-piece suit for a cotton towel and slippers.

But, still, not all is well. When Master Liu learns that his ancient decrepit bathhouse is scheduled to be demolished so that a shopping mall can be erected, it seems a dark cloud is hovering above. It's only the beginning of more serious tragedies to come. And Da Ming must finally learn to shed his self-imposed class and social superiority for the good of his family. In the process he will rediscover the bathhouse's magical powers.

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