The award-winning Taiwanese adaptation of Red Candle Games’ Detention is making its US premiere in theaters today.
Set in 1962 Taiwan, during the time of the White Terror. Martial law is in full force across the country. In a time of extreme repression, all ideas considered to be dissident are banned, and the culprits are tortured or executed. Tsuihua Secondary School is not an exception to this oppression. Despite close surveillance by the military police, Professor Chang (Fu Meng-Po) runs an underground literary club where he and his students learn about banned books and dream of freedom. One of his club members, Fang (Gingle Wang, in a Golden Horse-nominated performance) is madly in love with him. The usually shy teenage girl from an abusive home manages to open up like a book in his presence. But then, Chang disappears…
One night, Fang wakes up at her desk, the school around her changed and distorted. As she wanders through the sinister corridors and dilapidated rooms in search of her teacher, she meets Wei (Tse Jing-Hua). Together, they must confront the ghosts and monsters that have taken over their alma mater in order to find out what has happened there.
Nominated for 12 Golden Horse Awards (Taiwan’s Academy Awards), Detention is the directorial debut of John Hsu, who co-wrote the film which opens in theatres and virtual cinemas nationwide on Friday, October 8th.
