{"id":53055,"date":"2026-05-12T01:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T05:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=53055"},"modified":"2026-05-12T01:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T05:14:25","slug":"the-forbidden-city-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/12\/the-forbidden-city-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Forbidden City (2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\nA well-trained martial artist looking for her lost sister crosses paths with an Italian chef who’s searching for his missing father. Revelations bring strangers together in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

This Italian martial arts film follows Mei, a trained fighter who’s looking to find her sister, Yun, that was taken from her in their childhood due to China’s one-child policy. Her journey takes her to a criminal underworld in Rome that traffics women for sexual exploitation. She begins to beat her way through thugs and henchmen in an effort to locate Yun. Mei encounters Marcello, an Italian chef and the son of a man who was last seen with her sister. Marcello’s father is also missing, and both of our film’s protagonists venture forth to find out where they went. Initially feeling like a John Wick film, The Forbidden City is a much deeper story about loss, pain, revenge, and the motivating power of love.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Forbidden City comes to us from Italian writer \/ director Gabriele Mainetti. Mainetti’s previous work ranges from the historical-fantasy, Freaks Out, to the Christmas comedy, Elf Me. His latest directorial feature film is the first time he’s touched down on martial arts. With his prior films being a coming of age drama (My Summer with the Shark), a comedy drama (The Best Century of My Life), and a Superhero outing (They Call Me Jeeg), Mainetti has refused to keep himself locked into any one genre while adding a beautiful human element to all of his work. Keep this in mind when you sit down for The Forbidden City. Yes, you’ll get a healthy dose of beautifully choreographed fighting, but there’s a lot of heart within the story itself. Gabriele’s tale of loss and discovery shifts gears and delivers a calm and hopeful parallel that makes the film a perfectly balanced event for a date night.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Film stars Yaxi Liu and Enrico Borello portray Yun and Marcello. Liu’s acting career has taken off in the last few years. Most of her cinematic work has been as a stunt coordinator, or a stunt double, and it can be seen in The Forbidden City every time she throws herself into combat. Yaxi’s performance is fierce and Yun’s relentless pursuit of her sister brings her to blows against entire groups of henchmen. We get a perfectly contrasting performance from Enrico, as Marcello is more inquisitive, and tactful. As more of a detective than a vigilante, Marcello is the grounded force that brings an unexpected element to the film. Enrico’s backlog of film and TV roles are mostly rooted in drama which, when paired with Yaxi’s stunt work background, makes for a storytelling melting pot that has something to offer everyone. The chemistry between the two actors shine despite their language barriers. I found myself charmed by one scene specifically, in which Yun uses a translation app on her phone to communicate with Marcello. With both actors giving this their all, you’re guaranteed the best of martial arts and Italian romance, with it all being wrapped up in a slowly unraveling mystery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If hearing that the film has heart and romance deters you, perhaps it helps to hear that The Forbidden City received the 2026Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Fight. I can’t express how impressed I am with the balance of conflict and discovery shown in this movie. It’s a fresh look at storytelling, especially after seeing a lot of films that are violence for the sake of violence, or drama for the sake of drama. It isn’t often that filmmakers understand the nuance of human nature and capture it well. The Forbidden City is a fantastic example of storytelling done right. You’ll be drawn in with a John Wick style opening, and you won’t feel out-of-place later on when you see the protagonists taking a romantic ride through Rome. Take a second to imagine Boy Kills World meets When Harry Met Sally, but take out any element related to how goofy that sounds. This film is an earnest and worthwhile journey from a family home in mainland China to the gritty criminal underground of Rome, all in the name of love and family. If you’re looking for something that doesn’t pull its punches while taking its storytelling seriously, look no further than The Forbidden City. I highly recommend it for a personal movie night with someone special.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Forbidden City is currently available on Blu-Ray and Digital through our friends over at Well Go USA.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A well-trained martial artist looking for her lost sister crosses paths with an Italian chef who’s searching for his missing father. Revelations bring strangers together in unexpected ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[4000,4023,631,703,874,3873],"class_list":["post-53055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-chinese","tag-italian","tag-martial-arts","tag-mystery","tag-romance","tag-well-go-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53055"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53060,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53055\/revisions\/53060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}