The Arrival of Wang

Not, as one might initially guess, a top-shelf title heralding the debut of a new adult entertainment star, The Arrival of Wang is a low budget sci-fi thriller from the Italian brothers who brought us Zora the Vampire. Translator Gaia (Francesca Cuttica) is employed on an urgent assignment by a secret government agency; she must act as a translator during the interrogation of a mysterious, Chinese-speaking stranger, who is hidden in darkness. When she demands that the lights are turned up, a shock awaits her.

Registering European unease at the rise of China in classic B-movie fashion, The Arrival of Wang also reveals with its surprisingly decent special effects the way that affordable digital technology means that low-budget and high-concept can now meet. What suffers, however, is the middle ground: characterisation is perfunctory, the supposedly top-secret facility resembles a woefully understaffed local council office, and the direction stretches what was a decent conceit for a short film past breaking point.