Ermo is a simple noodlemaker in a rural collective whose horizons grow before our eyes like dry noodles set to boil. She is smart enough to be dissatisfied with her too-old husband who is flaccid in politic and body; canny enough to know that something's going on with her neighbor, Fat Lady, and that big fat television of hers; and rebellious enough to begin commuting to town to sell her noodles and see what real money feels like. Inner Mongolian actress Alia plays Ermo straight, the better to set off the absurdity of her fellow characters-and the emotional sterility of her (tunnel) vision. “Ermo is a delicious, unexpectedly wry comedy about keeping up with the Joneses. Like the best comedies of manners it works because it operates on the universal level of petty annoyances, competition, and jealousy. With a light touch, the film allows the cultural theme of modernization to grow from its hilariously small-minded characters.” (Caryn James, New York Times)