Detention

One spooky night, Fang (Gingle Wang) and a classmate are at their secondary school, looking into the disappearance of their friends and teachers who founded an illegal book club. Taiwan, 1962: the Chinese occupation. Political literature is strictly prohibited and its dissemination is severely punished. Wandering the creaky hallways, Fang discovers a dark secret about her role in the disappearance of her rebellious schoolmates. Taiwanese director John Hsu's feature film debut is based on the popular, eponymous video game. Detention combines a historic school drama with psychological horror to make Taiwan's repression tangible. The refreshing combination of genres, great acting – with the cast alternating between horror and drama – as well as spine-chilling sound and computer-generated effects made this the box-office smash of the year in its home country. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)