Mesmerizing in its imagery and shot in 51 locations across the country, Ascension is a cinematic exploration of China’s industrial supply chain that reveals the country’s growing class divide through staggering observations of labor, consumerism and wealth. The film ascends through levels of the capitalist structure: workers running factory production, the middle class selling to consumers, and the elites reveling in a new level of hedonistic enjoyment. Exploring China’s social ladder, we see how each level makes possible the next. — IDA