Actor Wu Xiaoliang and actress Wang Jiajia star as the brother and his girlfriend.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Although the script of Wisdom Tooth was finished eight years ago, it took Liang six years to raise the budget before he could gather actresses Lyu Xingchen, Wang Jiajia and actor Wu Xiaoliang to shoot the movie in Yichun between October and December in 2018.

The methods of guiding actors that Liang learned from director Lou have worked for his maiden directorial outing. "When arriving on set, I just told the actors to act and speak in their own way. I wanted them to feel relaxed and comfortable, thus better placed to find the characters within themselves."

While lust and desire is often a subject broached by many art films, Wisdom Tooth touches upon a rarely featured topic－that of a young woman's clinging affection of her elder brother and the juvenile anguish caused by his new girlfriend.

For Liang, the film also marks his tribute to the comparatively simple and tranquil life before the unprecedented change brought about by the expansion of the internet.