Evil Unbound

Evil Unbound (Chinese: 731) is a 2025 Chinese historical drama film co-written and directed by Zhao Linshan, and starring Jiang Wu, Wang Zhiwen, and Li Naiwen [zh]. The film follows the story of atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army's Unit 731 during World War II.^[1] The film premiered in Harbin on 17 September 2025 with wide-release in China on 18 September 2025, coinciding with the 94th anniversary of the September 18 Incident, which marked the start of Empire of Japan's invasion of the China.^[2][3]

Evil Unbound
Theatrical release poster
731
Directed by	Zhao Linshan
Written by	Liu Heng Zhao Linshan
Produced by	Bi Shulin Hu Fan
Starring	Jiang Wu Wang Zhiwen Li Naiwen [zh]
Cinematography	He Xiang
Music by	Jiawi Shen
Production companies	Changchun Film Studio Group Co., ltd. Poly Film Investment Co., Ltd. HY Media
Distributed by	HY Media
Release date	September 18, 2025 (2025-09-18)
Running time	125 minutes
Country	China
Languages	Mandarin Japanese

Plot

Cast

• Jiang Wu as Wang Yongzhang, a local vendor
• Wang Zhiwen as Du Cunshan
• Li Naiwen [zh] as Gu Boxuan
• Sun Qian as Lin Suxian
• Feng Wenjuan as Kayo Imamura
• Lin Ziye as Sun Minglian
• Irene Wan
• Li Shanyu
• Li Zilin
• Ulantoya Duo
• Zhang Qi
• Li Yu
• Xu Guangyu
• Liu Zhankui

Soundtrack

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Unit 731" (Promotion song)	Tim Moyo	Tim Moyo	Tim Moyo
2.	"May You See Me Again (愿你再见我时)" (Opening theme)	Jin Liang	Meng Wenhao	Tan Weiwei

Production

Director Zhao Linshan spent over a decade researching the film, consulting extensive historical archives, including 8,000 pages of declassified U.S. reports on Unit 731 and 423 hours of testimonies from former unit members.^[1]

This film was shot in northeast China's Heilongjiang province and Dongfang Yingdu Film and Television Industrial Park in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province.^[4][5]

Release

Evil Unbound was released on 18 September 2025 in China, Australia and New Zealand and on September 19 in the United States and Canada.^[6][7]

The film's English title Evil Unbound, emphasizes the unrestrained nature of the crimes committed.^[8]

Box office

Evil Unbound broke records in China, with pre-sales exceeding 108 million yuan and over 269,000 screening on its first day, making it the highest single-day screening film in the film history of China.^[9]