Only the River Flows (2024) Plot Summary & Ending Explained

The drifter, known as "the madman," was the primary suspect because he was a mentally ill drifter that Granny Four had taken in. His status as a vulnerable outsider living with the victim made him an easy target for police, especially under pressure to close the case quickly. However, Ma Zhe later realized the evidence didn't fit neatly together.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes establish the madman's erratic behavior and presence at the scene, though these details prove insufficient for a proper conviction.

• madman
• granny four
• suspect
• arrest
• murder investigation

The cassette tape contained intimate recordings between two secret lovers, Qian Ling and Wang Hong. These recordings exposed a hidden web of relationships in the town, including poetry gatherings and clandestine meetings. The tape became a key clue that broadened the investigation beyond the surface crime, leading police to discover connections between the victims and a mysterious woman with long wavy hair.

Foreshadowing: The discovery of the tape shifts the investigation's focus, suggesting the murders are connected to hidden relationships rather than random violence.

• cassette tape
• qian ling
• wang hong
• recordings
• secret lovers

The mysterious woman with long wavy hair was seen near the crime scene and became a key figure in the investigation. Her presence tied the murders to clandestine meetings and poetic circles within the close-knit community. She represented the hidden sexual and romantic tensions beneath the town's respectable surface, though her exact identity remains ambiguous throughout the narrative.

Foreshadowing: Whispers about this woman appear early in the investigation, hinting at the deeper secrets the town is hiding.

• mysterious woman
• long wavy hair
• poetry gathering
• crime scene

Wang Hong was killed in the identical manner as Granny Four, suggesting the killer was deliberately creating a pattern rather than committing random violence. This duplication indicated a calculated design, implying someone was orchestrating a specific sequence of events. The similar killings raised questions about whether the murders were connected through motive, or whether someone was manipulating circumstances to achieve a particular outcome.

Foreshadowing: The first murder establishes the method; the second confirms the pattern is intentional rather than coincidental.

• wang hong
• murder method
• same manner
• killer pattern

Xu Liang, a troubled hairdresser with a criminal past, became a focal suspect partly because he strangely kept asking police to arrest him. His behavior was puzzling and contradictory, appearing to seek punishment or confession while simultaneously complicating investigators' judgments. This unusual request suggested either genuine guilt, mental instability, or an attempt to manipulate the investigation's direction.

Foreshadowing: Xu Liang's strange behavior appears early but remains unexplained, creating persistent suspicion throughout the case.

• xu liang
• hairdresser
• ask arrest
• suspicion
• confession

The madman escaped from the psychiatric hospital and returned to the town, where he killed the young boy who first discovered Granny Four's body. The escape triggered a full-scale manhunt and intensified the pressure for a quick resolution. His return to the exact location connected to his original crime suggested either random violence or a more deliberate return to unfinished business.

Foreshadowing: The madman's institutionalization appears to close the case, but his escape reopens the investigation with deadly consequences.

• madman
• escape
• psychiatric hospital
• boy
• kill

After killing the madman at the abandoned temple, Ma Zhe told his Chief of Police that he suspected the madman may have orchestrated the entire sequence of events to force Ma Zhe into being the one to kill him. This disturbing possibility suggests the madman deliberately manipulated circumstances, through escape, return, and targeting the boy, to engineer his own death at a specific person's hands, potentially as a form of psychological revenge or symbolic sacrifice.

Foreshadowing: The madman's seemingly random actions throughout the film gain sinister meaning if viewed as a calculated plan.

• madman
• orchestrate
• death
• ma zhe
• manipulation
• fate

Ma Zhe's wife's pregnancy became a source of emotional strain, with concerns about possible genetic disorders. The investigation's stress bled into his home life, fueling anxiety and obsessive behavior. This personal crisis paralleled his professional unraveling, showing how his obsession with the case consumed his mental state and blurred his ability to separate professional duty from personal fate.

Foreshadowing: Ma Zhe's personal anxiety about his unborn child appears early and intensifies as his mental state deteriorates.

• wife
• pregnancy
• genetic disorder
• stress
• personal life

The ending leaves a troubling ambiguity: the case is officially solved and Ma Zhe is awarded a merit, but he is psychologically scarred and unable to clearly separate reality, coincidence, institutional pressure, and fate. The truth about whether the madman truly orchestrated events, whether Ma Zhe was manipulated into killing, or whether everything was mere coincidence remains uncertain. This ambiguity reinforces the film's dark tone, suggesting some truths may never be resolved.

Foreshadowing: The entire investigation has been building toward this moment of uncertainty, where truth becomes indistinguishable from paranoia.

• ambiguous ending
• truth
• reality
• coincidence
• fate
• psychological damage