Mainland actress Fan Bingbing works with female director Li Yu for the third time in Double Exposure, a thriller to be released on Sept 29.

Related: Cast members promote film 'Double Exposure' in Beijing

Fan had long been stereotyped for being just a beautiful face in various TV dramas until she met Li. Yet in their films Lost in Beijing and Buddha Mountain, Fan showed she was not just a pretty face but could act, too.

In Double Exposure, she plays a woman troubled by illusions. Murder and an affair endow the story with a shell that will appeal to market forces, but at core, it tells how money twists one's life.

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A thought-provoking art-house film, finely packaged and with commercial elements, the film is all about Fan and Li, two women whose potential is realized best when working together. Li has an ability to present women's suffering and power, and Fan conveys her message convincingly and touchingly.

- Liu Wei