Starring: Wan Qian, Li Gengxi, Huang Jue, Zhou Ziyue, Shi An, Pan Binlong, Chai Ye, Yu Gengyin Director: Shen Yu

THE debut of writer/director Shen Yu, “The Old Town Girls” wraps a melancholy coming-of-age story in intriguing noir packaging, following the reunion of a teenager with the long-absent mother who returns with both personal and financial debts to pay. An air of tragedy always lingers when a child realizes that their parent cannot be trusted, and this feature doubles down on that scenario. Since being left with her father as an infant, the shy Shuiqing (Li Gengxi) has rarely felt secure, which the mercurial Qu Ting’s (Wan Qian) reappearance only heightens. Thanks to a film that is never as clear-cut emotionally as it might seem, the audience shares the high-school student’s festering tension.

Narratively, “The Old Town Girls” is hardly full of surprises, but it treads constantly shifting ground — reflecting Shuiqing’s desperation to believe in Qu despite all signs to the contrary, nodding to Qu’s shady motivations for making a comeback — which will likely help the movie continue to earn festival berths. This is a mostly gripping film where no one ever knows where they truly stand, but everyone eagerly and stubbornly pretends otherwise. Smartly, Yu lets that juxtaposition guide much of the story, and the movie’s tone.

Last seen in fellow Chinese neo-noir “The Wild Goose Lake,” actress Wan anchors an opening sequence that recalls that feature’s slipperiness, pushing viewers in one direction before pulling them in another. The audience first meets dancer Qu in a frenzied state, following the apparent kidnapping of Shuiqing and her classmate Ma Yueyue (Zhou Ziyue) and a subsequent ransom demand for 2 million yuan (US$308,765) each. But when Qu and the girls’ fathers (Shi An and Pan Binlong) drive to the Daokou police station — against a pleading Qu’s wishes — the mood is uneasy and unsettled rather than heartbroken or distressed.

We won't see Qu again until after “The Old Town Girls” has surveyed the now-safe Shuiqing’s modest existence. When the latter arrives home from school one afternoon, only to be asked by her stepmother to stay out of the house so that everyone else can have a nice family dinner, the tender resignation that washes across her face speaks volumes. At a noodle bar the next day, however, she spies a sight that brightens up her malaise: Qu, who dresses in yellow, drives a yellow car and even bunks down each night on a yellow chaise lounge at a local theater. It’s not a subtle touch, but she certainly demands both her daughter’s and the audience’s attention.

Although Shen Yu, Fang Li and Qiu Yujie’s script sifts through dark and murky relationships and motivations — spanning not only Shuiqing and Qu’s strained bond, but the pretty, placid Ma and her factory-worker father’s complicated home life, too — much of “The Old Town Girls” takes place in daylight. Reminiscent of “Angels Wear White,” those crisp, airy images (as lensed by director of photography Wang Shiqing) cannot mask the characters’ lurking sorrows.

The movie opens in Shenzhen on Aug. 14. （SD-Agencies)