731

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731

Sep 2025

2h 5m

Drama

War

Mystery & Thriller

History

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Popcornmeter

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Based on true events set during WWII in Northeast China, an ordinary man is thrust into a turbulent fate against the backdrop of the inhumane bacterial experiments conducted by the Japanese Imperial Army's notorious Unit 731.

Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

Oct 23

If Chinese writer and director Linshan Zhao had not made this film, it would be dismissed as trivializing horrific war crimes for lurid, prurient reasons. As it stands, by trying to embrace certain film techniques and genres, it is a severely flawed film

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Harper Rochel Goldman

MovieJawn

Oct 6

If 731’s goal was to document a little-known piece of history, its style doesn’t do it any favors.

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John Lui

The Straits Times (Singapore)

Sep 24

4/5

Historical drama 731 emphasises emotional impact and historical remembrance over cinematic subtlety.

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Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

Sep 23

An exhilarating, thrilling and suspenseful war thriller.

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Carla Hay

Culture Mix

Sep 20

This drama might be intended to give a meaningful history lesson about Japan's horrendous World War II-era biochemical experiments. But the movie's tacky filmmaking does a disservice to the real victims by turning this tragedy into a garish soap opera.

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Simon Foster

Screen-Space (Substack)

Sep 19

2.5/5

Linshan Zhao’s 731 (or EVIL UNBOUND internationally) is a far too sanitised, conventionally plotted story that turns the legacy of the thousands of dead and dismembered into an overly sentimental prison-break narrative.

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Mengting

Sep 20

Hope more non-Chinese people to see this movie, to know about the history

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Trevor K

Sep 20

Brutal, but thats the only way this item of history can be interpreted. Plenty of tears were shed in the theater.

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Loren D

Sep 20

Intense, heart wrenching story.

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craig n

Sep 19

Did not know about the Asian Auschwitz...I am not a fan of foreign made movies..sometimes difficult to follow

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James W

Nov 27

The Japanese have tried to hide their war crimes. This movie reminds us of the horrific crimes committed by the Japanese that they never apologized for.

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Clara D

Nov 18

An important part of Chinese history that must be remembered, it's a shame that there's so much censorship when it's plain historic facts. The movie doesn't even do the true events justice, many thrilling parts that were true have been censored to the gory nature in order for this to be released globally, it's definitely an important film to watch. It also dramatizes the story by showing survivors, there were no survivors in history.

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Linshan Zhao

Director

Wu Jiang

Actor

Zhiwen Wang

Actor

Naiwen Li

Actor

Qian Sun

Actor

Ziye Lin

Actor

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Synopsis

Based on true events set during WWII in Northeast China, an ordinary man is thrust into a turbulent fate against the backdrop of the inhumane bacterial experiments conducted by the Japanese Imperial Army's notorious Unit 731.

Director: Linshan Zhao
Producer: Hong Wang, Wang Zhang, Zhuang Yan
Screenwriter: Linshan Zhao
Distributor: Well Go USA Entertainment
Production Co: Changchun Film Studio, Beijing HY Media, Poly Film Investment
Genre: Drama, War, Mystery & Thriller, History
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 2025, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $407.2K
Runtime: 2h 5m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)