Heaven's Will

The Luliang region of Shanxi Province is typical of the yellow, loess, mountainous landscape of north China. The hilltop village in the film is not especially poor, nor is it particularly unique. But when it comes to its beliefs and traditions, it is clear that this is no ordinary village. Here we find mediums who can talk to the gods, a Taoist priest who is in an adulterous relationship with his nephew’s wife and doctors more interested in witchcraft than medicine. Under the neon lights of the village temple lurk all sorts of characters: people playing in crowded gambling houses, members of deviant religious cults and almighty local government officials – a mixture of good and evil, in which each and every one is showing the rest what they are worth.
Ten years ago, Naixiao was leader of a local mafia gang. Powerful for a time, the winds of change altered his life and he was endowed with the superhuman power of foreseeing when people would die. In a dream, a sorceress revealed to him that he was blessed by a Taoist deity, the Bodhisattva Manjushri and the Deity of the Great White Planet and that he had been given access to the three supernatural realms.
Naixiao’s new supernatural identity gradually becomes known to the people around him and with his successive predictions of who is going to die next, even the highly respected village elder and his family become convinced of his powers. People all around him begin to respect him as a gifted clairvoyant and seek him out on advice on all matters relating to life and death and the realms of the supernatural.
Meanwhile, the recent development of coalmines in the locality is supposed to bring new opportunities to the communities of the region. But the initial enthusiasm is quickly dampened by rampant construction and development and the potential plagues that they will inevitably bring. Whether the locals are aware of an impending crisis or not, it is clear that a new approach is needed. Squabbling and scheming will lead to nothing as the realities of the community begin to border on the absurd. In this whole process, Naixiao finds he is being used by the local authorities and his obsessions gradually catapult him into the never ending cycle of karmic retribution.