DETENTION
In 1962, during the reign of Taiwan’s White Terror, two students navigate their terrifyingly transformed school’s hallways filled with disturbing surprises as they search for their missing teacher in this period horror melodrama.
For nearly forty years, Taiwan was placed under martial law in response to the growing opposition against the Chinese Nationalist Party. In John Hsu’s Detention, this era, referred to as the White Terror, is reimagined as a supernatural horror when students Fang (Gingle Wan) and Wei (Tseng Ching-Hua) mysteriously awaken in their high school only to find it overran with ghosts and other sinister forces. Under the tutelage of school teacher Zhang (Fu Meng-Po), Wei is a member of a secret school club that collects banned books of fiction, poetry and art from the west and beyond. These smuggled artifacts give the participating teens and teachers a glimpse into an unsuppressed world of creativity and wonder. When Fang accidentally discovers a piece of contraband she is unwillingly thrust into the rebellious plight of the club, the dangers that come with it, and a terrifying descent into a neverending nightmare. Featuring imaginative art direction and a smart, allegorical script, DETENTION is a fright not just for its scares, but the shocking reality of the history at its core.
CAST: Gingle Wang, Fu Meng-Po, Tseng Jing-Hua, Cecilia Choi
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