Last Train Home

Released Sep 3, 2010

1h 25m

Documentary

List

100%

56 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Annually, an estimated 130 million factories workers in China migrate from their city of employment back to the village they grew up in. This documentary spotlights married couple Chen and Zhang as they make their own journey. Chen and Zhang must struggle to reconnect with their children, whom they see only once a year. When they discover that their daughter has decided to drop out of school to work at a factory herself, they begin questioning the value of their sacrifice.

Read More

Read Less

Critics Consensus

Last Train Home is a haunting, vivid documentary exploring the human toll of China's economic boom in intimate, unforgettable detail.

Read Critics Reviews

Keith Uhlich

Time Out

A deeply moving look at an unavoidably fractured family.

Jul 2, 2021

Full Review

Andrew Chan

Film Comment Magazine

Rivaling China's finest documentarians, first-time director Lixin Fan begins his Last Train Home with a handful of unshakable images.

Nov 12, 2013

Full Review

Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan considers the social upheavals wrought by China's economic miracle.

Jan 4, 2011

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

A gripping documentary that reveals the depressing inadequacies of China’s social and financial structure.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

John Powers

NPR's Fresh Air

The movie puts a human face on this migration by showing its affects on a single family.

May 17, 2018

Full Review

Laura Hiros

Rincón de cine

Do not miss it. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

Mar 22, 2018

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Very immersive, you feel the lives of the family as if they're your own.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Slow, uninspired, cheap. The cameraman doesn't know what he's doing, and the whole thing feels very artificial (especially the comments on the foreigners) and relies on cultural shock to get good reviews from white people. This is coming from a Chinese person, btw. Boring, incoherent, and shitty film.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is about choices, no matter how many times the parents say they didn't have a choice. These people have it so backwards. they leave where it is beautiful and live where it is ugly. the mom and dad showed nothing but shame and critical judgement towards their kids. the daughter longs for what she has no idea she needs, something her parents never gave her, while they ironically did what they thought was best by abandoning her and sending nothing but money and guilty messages. the rural country is so beautiful, yet this whole situation is so sad. such a brainwashed and overpopulated world they live in.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A rare glimpse into the lives of a group of people long exploited and mistreated. The sad thing it seems to still be their highest standard of living ever. Their family dynamic is interesting and sad. The doc is even more revealing in what the subjects aren't saying, it's all just below the surface, just like many families. The modernization of China may be rapidly expanding in its major cities, but still seems to have not spread at all to the country villages/small towns. It reminds me a little of reading about the beginnings of the original Industrial Revolution and the changes it brought to everyone.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A masterful closer look into the consequences of China booming economy.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very good and very interesting but incredibly depressing

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

60%

39%

Lucky

100%

92%

Which Way Home

88%

77%

A Small Act

92%

87%

The Way We Get By

85%

89%

Beyond Belief

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Critics Consensus: Machete Is Trashy Fun

View more photos

Synopsis

Annually, an estimated 130 million factories workers in China migrate from their city of employment back to the village they grew up in. This documentary spotlights married couple Chen and Zhang as they make their own journey. Chen and Zhang must struggle to reconnect with their children, whom they see only once a year. When they discover that their daughter has decided to drop out of school to work at a factory herself, they begin questioning the value of their sacrifice.

Director: Lixin Fan
Producer: Christi Collier, Zhao Qi
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 3, 2010, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $285.8K
Runtime: 1h 25m

Most Popular at Home Now