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Detention

Released Oct 8, 2021 1h 42m Horror TRAILER for Detention: Trailer 1 List
86% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 87% Audience Score Fewer than 50 Ratings
We're in 1962 Taiwan, during the time of the White Terror, with martial law in full force on the island. In this 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 from 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) 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. Then Chang disappears... One night, Fang wakes up at her desk, but the school has changed. As she wanders through the sinister corridors and other dilapidated rooms in search of her teacher, she meets Wei (Tse Jing-Hua). Together, they must confront the ghosts and deformed monsters that have taken over their alma mater, to find out what happened there. Read More Read Less
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Detention

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Detention

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Critics Consensus

Politically charged horror that's as viscerally effective as it is intellectually stimulating, Detention's got class.

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Critics Reviews

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Isaac Feldberg RogerEbert.com For all the game's attention to the ways fear can become rooted in personal and collective psyches, this adaptation feels curiously depersonalized. Rated: 2/4 Oct 15, 2021 Full Review Noel Murray Los Angeles Times In gaming terms, this movie's characters find themselves on a screen where every move leads to a bottomless pit. The nightmare they're in is as existential as it is visceral. Oct 13, 2021 Full Review Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle Forgiveness and remembrance are intertwined in this powerful story. An apt heir to [Guillermo] del Toro at his most analytical, it's a stirring political fable dressed in the ghoulish weaves of a creepy monster flick. Oct 23, 2020 Full Review Reuben Baron CBR Detention isn't exactly a great movie, but it's the only video game adaptation to set its sights on greatness. Aug 10, 2023 Full Review Paul Lê Nightmare on Film Street For the movie relays the important message of how we cannot afford to forget mankind's worst moments because they make us uncomfortable. Doing so only causes history to repeat itself. Rated: 9/10 Jul 20, 2023 Full Review Beth Accomando KPBS.org The film mixes elements of monsters and haunted house scares with a political thriller to engage audiences. There are some odd narrative shifts and tonal changes but if you stick through to the end it all makes sense and is actually quite clever. Dec 17, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Audience Member Nice movie but unnecessarily complex. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/01/24 Full Review Audience Member interesting. totally gave me Silent Hill vibes, which maybe makes a little sense as i think this is based on a horror video game too. i wasn't fully paying attention to the whole thing so there were parts that lost me, story-wise, but to be honest i wasn't really watching it for the story anyway; i just liked the creatures/spooky things. i'd maybe watch it again. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review brad p ‘Detention' is a Largely Successful Film Adaptation of Red Candle's Taiwanese Horror Game Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Detention

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Detention

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Movie Info

Synopsis We're in 1962 Taiwan, during the time of the White Terror, with martial law in full force on the island. In this 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 from 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) 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. Then Chang disappears... One night, Fang wakes up at her desk, but the school has changed. As she wanders through the sinister corridors and other dilapidated rooms in search of her teacher, she meets Wei (Tse Jing-Hua). Together, they must confront the ghosts and deformed monsters that have taken over their alma mater, to find out what happened there.
Director
John Hsu
Screenwriter
John Hsu
Distributor
Dekanalog
Production Co
Taichung Film Development Foundation, Gamania Digital Entertainment Company, Truffe Holdings, Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao International Entertainment Company, Filmagic Pictures Co., Warner Bros. Pictures, 1 Production Film Company, Kaohsiung Film Fund, Lots Home Entertainment
Genre
Horror
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 2021, Limited
Runtime
1h 42m
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