"ZHAO TAO GIVES THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF 2019. 'Ash Is Purest White' contains perhaps her most dynamic, towering performance at its center. Qiao is the most empowered character in Director, Jia Zhangke's oeuvre, and ZHAO TAO makes the most of it, alternately expressing both imperiousness and uncertainty from the same core of gold. She serves as an anchor as the years pass in the film, unfailingly gratifying and firm."
-The Film Stage
December 25, 2019
