Performances are excellent across the board, but the standout is Harashima (the son of Chinese and Japanese parents) for his delicately understated portrayal of a non-combatant soldier documenting appalling crimes against humanity.

The plot successfully weaves multiple storylines into an emotional tale. However, it occasionally trades subtlety for drama.

Dead to Rights works so stupendously because, while Ao has epically recreated the backdrop of the horrifying invasion of the Chinese capital, he focuses the story on two handfuls of characters that the audience gets to know and root for.

Shen pulls no punches in his direction, scale, or production design, throwing us in the middle of this massacre with a cast that perfectly captures the tortured reality of their fate via silent tears and haunted faces.