On March 20, 2026, an online movie called "Sweep the Evil" quietly landed on the three major platforms of iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video. There was no overwhelming publicity, nor the pomp and circumstance of a theatrical blockbuster, but it was an instant hit after it was released – the popularity exceeded 17,000, ranking first on the list, and one platform even gave it a high score of 9.1.
What is this "big dark horse on the Internet"?
With this question in mind, I finished watching this 96-minute movie. If it was expected to be a shoddy "fast-moving consumer goods" film, then "Sweep the Evil" really gave me a loud slap in the face. But is it a flawless masterpiece? I'm afraid it's not that simple.
01 The scale is amazing: Internet University finally dares to shoot "restricted" films?
Let me talk about the most intuitive feeling first – this film is really "dare to shoot".
The movie is set in the late 1990s around the turn of the millennium, an era when surveillance was scarce and criminal investigation methods were relatively backward. The protagonist Zhang Bin (played by Bao Beier) is a father who was forced into a desperate situation by life. In order to raise money for his terminally ill son, he took his wife and brother back to his old business and committed carjacking and murder.
The film opens with a violent scene that makes people physically uncomfortable. Zhang Bin used a pencil to pierce the taxi driver's eyes alive. The camera does not shy away from the victim's screams, the details of the pencil piercing, and the blood splattering, which is so straightforward that it makes one's scalp numb.
This is not over yet. In the garage, Guan Lin, played by Shi Xiaolong, fights one against three. He locks the car, shoots the head with a wrench, and stabs him with a screwdriver… Every move carries a "sense of pain." It is not a fancy fight, but a realistic violence that can be felt through the screen.
What’s even more surprising is that the movie also has a “passion line”. Wu Qianqian, a mute girl played by Clara, was forced to "sacrifice" herself to the underworld boss in order to help her husband complete the deal. The scene was both beautiful and sad, vividly showing a woman's helplessness and humiliation.
Some film critics bluntly said: "The scale of this movie is close to the scale of Hong Kong's restricted-rated movies in the early years." It might be more appropriate if major platforms could add a "Minors watch with caution" reminder.
02 Controversy broke out: Some people applauded, while others criticized it.
But the reputation of "Sweeping Evil" is not as one-sided as its popularity.
Praisers said: This is a hard-core crime film that "refuses to make the villains more familiar". Zhang Bin, played by Bao Beier, is not purely evil. His criminal motive stems from his father's love – his son has leukemia, and the match he has been waiting for for many years is taken away by a wealthy man with money. When this man who has been repeatedly crushed by fate chooses to pick up the butcher's knife again, the audience will even develop a complex empathy.
Critics are merciless: "The literary drama is terrible, and the action scenes rely on scale to find excitement." Well-known film critic Ma Qingyun bluntly stated in the article that the "violence and color" approach of Bao Beier's film is essentially the gameplay of a B-level movie. The construction of the drama is unconvincing, especially the fight with the ultimate car dealer in the second half, which is just a drama for the sake of drama.
The fierce collision of the two voices made "Sweep the Evil" continue to gain popularity. Controversy itself is traffic, and this is probably the situation that the film studio is most willing to see.
03 Actor subversion: Bao Beier's "evil", Pan Binlong's "righteousness", Shi Xiaolong's "pain"
Controversies aside, looking at the actors' performance alone, "Sweeping Evil" does give enough surprises.
Bao Beier, the man who laughs and laughs in variety shows, once again proved his dominance on the "villain track" with his long hair style. Zhang Bin, who he plays, is thin and gloomy, with a reserved and chilling coldness in his eyes. The most amazing thing is the scene where he learns that his son's match has been robbed – from shock to anger, from anger to determination, the changes in emotional levels are mind-numbing. Some netizens commented: "Don't mess with Bao Beier who has hair, because as long as he is not bald, he is basically a ruthless character."
Pan Binlong, 48 years old, challenged a large number of action scenes for the first time. The criminal policeman Wu Xiaoguang he plays has been tortured by a knot of heart for seven years because he passed by Zhang Bin seven years ago. Da Pan used an extremely restrained performance to demonstrate the perseverance and guilt of an ordinary policeman. He is not like the hero in traditional police movies, but more like an ordinary person who is dragged down by the case but never admits defeat.
Although Shi Xiaolong only appeared in a friendly role, he contributed the most exciting fighting scene in the entire film. The scene in the car repair shop where one enemy was against many, the punches were punchy and clean, making people vaguely see the shadow of the "Tornado Kid" back then. Unfortunately, he didn't have many scenes, and many viewers said they were "dissatisfied" after watching it.
04 Deep interrogation: When father’s love becomes an excuse for crime
The most interesting thing about "Sweeping Evil" is that it raises a question that the audience cannot easily answer: When a person is forced into a corner by fate, where is the boundary between good and evil?
Is Zhang Bin a bad person? Of course it is. He killed, robbed, destroyed corpses, and had blood on his hands.
But the director keeps reminding the audience that this "bad guy" also has a soft side. He has tenderness for his wife and heart-rending love for his son. When he learned that his son's life-saving match had been robbed by a wealthy man, his despair and anger can be understood by any father.
There is a very impactful scene in the film: Zhang Bin and his wife shared a piece of cake with tears in their eyes in a dilapidated car. At that moment, they were not murderers, just a pair of low-level people crushed by life.
Understandable does not mean forgiven. This is the brilliance of "Sweeping Evil" – it does not glorify crime, nor does it simply and crudely "fight violence with violence." In the final outcome, evil cannot prevail against good, but the price of justice is heavy. The conflict between lynching and judicial procedures, as well as the ethical costs, are all left to the audience to think about.
05 Conclusion: The ceiling of Internet giants, or another “traffic carnival”?
To be honest, "Sweep the Evil" is not perfect.
There are indeed shortcomings in its writing and drama, and some plot settings are obviously designed to serve the purpose of drama. There is a gap between Pan Binlong's image and the traditional criminal police captain, and there is also a lack of sense of connection between Clara's emotional stability and Bao Beier's madness.
But I have to admit that this film refreshed my understanding of the Internet University. When creators are willing to focus on improving the quality of their works, the gap between online movies and theatrical movies is visibly narrowing.
As of press time, the popularity of "Sweeping Evil" is still rising. As for whether it is a "surprise of a hard-core crime film" or another "traffic carnival that relies on scale to gain attention", I suggest you go and see it for yourself, and then come to the comment area to tell me your answer.
Do you think "Sweeping Out" is worth watching? How would you rate Bao Beier's acting skills this time? See you in the comments section!
