October 1942, most of China is living under the shadow of imperial Japan. Following the Fall of British Hong Kong in December 1941, many British service personnel were taken prisoner. The Lisbon Maru — a Japanese merchant ship covertly carrying around 1,800 British POWs in the Far East — is torpedoed by mistake off the coast of China’s Dongji Island by an American submarine, unaware of the lives hidden below deck. Guided by the code of the islanders — “those in peril at sea must be saved”, two young fishermen, brothers Abi (Zhu Yilong) and Adang (Wu Lei), risk everything to hide a British army medic (William Franklyn-Miller) in their village after being spotted drifting in the sea. A brutal manhunt by the Japanese forces to find the missing soldier ensues. As the ship begins to sink, and the truth about the POWs stranded at sea comes to the surface, the villagers set out on a perilous mission to rescue the British soldiers and reclaim their land.

Based on a true story long buried beneath the waves, Dongji Rescue is an epic story of human courage and survival that transcends borders and languages.