All the Crows in the World is a 2021 short film (14 minutes) from China, directed by Yi Tang.
Shengnan is a schoolgirl of 18. She is invited to a party by her cousin, Miss Tan. She discovers, to her unpleasant surprise, that 1) the party actually consists of a bunch of gross, sweaty middle-aged businessmen, and 2) her cousin Tan seems to be a bargirl/prostitute.
The party adjourns to a karaoke bar/brothel. Shengnan gets another surprise when she discovers that one of her schoolfriends is a hooker at the bar. Among the group is a bespectacled man named Wang Jianguo who is more subdued than his fellow drunken revelers. Shengnan and Jianguo make a surprising connection.
Tropes:
- All Men Are Perverts: All heterosexual men, anyway. All the businessmen in the group are slimy, sleazy perverts who bid on Shengnan's virginity. As in, they literally pass her envelopes with money, bidding on her virginity. Jianguo is the only non-scumbag in the group—because he's gay.
- Auto Erotica: Someone—whether one of the businessmen or someone else isn't clear—is having sex with a woman in a car in the Parking Garage. Shengnan and Jianguo sneak up on the car, shine their flashlights and yell "POLICE!", then run away cackling with laughter.
- Call-Back: Shengnan and her friend are eating at the noodle stand when a woman (apparently a prostitute) comes for an assignation with the noodle stand man. As he walks off, Shengnan pulls out her phone and says "Let's see if he can last ten minutes." At the end, her new friend Jianguo meets another man on the sidewalk, and they stroll away arm in arm. Shengnan pulls out her phone again, and the film ends.
- Complete-the-Quote Title: The title comes from a Chinese proverb, "Crows everywhere are equally black," meaning that bad people are all alike. The message about the drunk, horny businessmen is obvious.
- Extremely Short Timespan: A single afternoon and evening, as Shengnan meets her friend after school, goes to an unpleasant party, and leaves.
- Ironic Juxtaposition: Miss Tan is singing a song for the businessmen, and Shengnan is strong-armed into singing along. The song is a patriotic Communist anthem about Chairman Mao, making for interesting accompaniment as sweaty, fat businessmen drink and paw at young women.
- Longing Look: At the end, when Jianguo is sitting at the outdoor noodle stand with Shengnan and her friend, he casts a longing look at a man on the sidewalk nearby. After an encouraging gesture from Shengnan he approaches, and they hook up.
- Nature Adores a Virgin: The businessmen literally bid on Shengnan's virginity. One says that she'd be a good match for his son, although how many of the men (all at least twice her age) are bidding for their sons or themselves is unclear. After she says that actually, she's had sex before, the Buddhist priest in attendance (!) says that she's lucky anyway so it doesn't matter.
- Oh, Crap!: Shengnan is startled to see her fellow schoolgirl, the one she was eating noodles with in the first scene, as one of the hookers at the karaoke bar.
- The Reveal: Why isn't Jianguo being a gross, disgusting libertine like all the other slimeballs? Because he's gay.
- A Threesome Is Hot: One of the businessmen, apparently the ringleader, grabs Miss Tan and another hooker and, with one arm around each, says that it's the happiest night of his life. (Obviously this is not really hot at all, especially with how the two prostitutes are obviously working to mask their disgust.)
