The Unrestricted War: A Canadian Vax Exec Runs Afoul of China

By Chris Knight

Rating: C-

There’s something a little off about The Unrestricted War. It begins: “This film is a work of fiction inspired by true events,” a caveat I’ve seen many times, if never in exactly those words.

But what precisely are the true events? It’s set in China during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the world of vaccine science and viral experimentation. I’ve watched the opening scene three times, and one could argue that it accuses China of creating COVID-19 in a lab. Or maybe not.

In any case, the story moves into the realm of pure fiction soon enough. Jim is the Canadian head of Genivax, a vaccine maker operating in the People’s Republic. His wife, Sophie (Nadia Hatta), works by his side. They have a young daughter. His employees like him. Life is good.

But one day, government agents bust into the lab and arrest Jim. Sophie is snatched as well. After a brief mention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou being jailed in Canada (true), they tell Jim to return home, visit a high-tech lab he used to work at in Winnipeg, and steal a sample of a virus (fiction, I hope!).

If he doesn’t do it, they’ll destroy his company, tear apart his family, and possibly imprison him. Once he does — and it goes pretty smoothly, all things considered — they’ve got theft of Canadian government property to hang over his head.

Jim spends an awful lot of time butting heads with his Chinese handlers. At first, he can’t believe they would do this to him. And then he can’t believe they COULD do this to him. He hires a lawyer, who soon backs out, reminding him that the Communist Party can either break the law or change it. Either way, Jim loses.

Jim is played by Dylan Bruce, a Canadian actor who did some of his early work on As the World Turns. Yet even before learning that, I found something a little televisual about his performance. In fact, everyone in the movie feels a bit stilted, so maybe it was a choice of Yan Ma, the director and co-writer.

The film is long — two hours and 20 minutes — and a little sluggish for a would-be thriller, as it slowly ratchets up the tension on our stalwart Canadian hero. An evil general (Uni Park) is revealed to have a hold on Sophie, while Director Han (Russell Yuen) operates as the Chinese government’s snarling face.

The Chinese Communist Party doesn’t come off well. And while I’ve no great love of the CCP, my spidey-sense started tingling when I read that The Epoch Times had put money into the film. This is the far-right news organization that opposes China, supports the Falun Gong religion and Donald Trump, and deals in anti-vax and other kooky conspiracy theories.

The truth is out there. But you’ll never get to the bottom of it watching The Unrestricted War. And in any case, the movie isn’t interesting enough to spend your time trying to unravel its hidden meaning and messages.

The Unrestricted War. Directed by Yan Ma. Starring Dylan Bruce, Nadia Hatta, and Russell Yuen. In theatres May 16.