Mistress Dispeller: Tact and Discernment

On the surface, as explained, the film seemed to be a heist movie or a spy thriller. It focused on a woman whose job was to infiltrate and uncover affairs, using social tricks of the trade to reveal the true dramas and dismantle the relationships between husbands and mistresses from within.

However, this wasn’t that kind of film. With a typically practical, Chinese-style confucianism, Teacher Wang is the Mistress Dispeller—by any means necessary. She reveals details and identities when needed, never taking sides, holding space for both the wife and the mistress, and ruggedly setting right what has gone wrong.

There seemed to be little blame directed at anyone (especially the man who started the mess), as the goal isn’t messy, trashy drama but rather reaching understanding and resolution. The culmination of the film is groundbreaking in its honesty and defies any predictions you might make.

I found the whole film fascinating, if a little dry, as the guru-like figure mediates between three parties, hiding and revealing herself and information as needed, all in pursuit of bringing the truth to light. It did feel somewhat stifled by patriarchy, and the implied fault seemed to fall more on the mistress than the cheating husband—ew—but that was to be expected, I think. No matter where we are in the world, we can’t seem to escape these old stereotypes.