Under the Influence

Lao Yan, a middle-aged advertising executive, finds his life trapped in a cycle of business banquets and compulsory toasts. His professional success is measured in glasses drained, while his family grows distant with each celebration. When doctors deliver an ultimatum, he resolves to quit smoking but refuses to abandon alcohol—the faithful companion to all his deals and social rituals. This attempt to balance health with ingrained habit turns his relationships with colleagues, friends, and his wife inside out, transforming a domestic comedy into an examination of Chinese hospitality culture.