Dead Talents Society

A young ghost with low self-esteem becomes the protégée of a washed-up spectress-diva who teaches her how to scare humans. John Hsu returns to IFFR with his sophomore feature, a delightful horror comedy of found family and personal growth.

A recently ‘born’ ghost of a young woman has 28 days to learn how to scare humans before she perishes forever. Easy-peasy, you might think, but not for our shy and low self-esteemed rookie. Luckily Makoto, a former wannabe pop star, now a “scaring agency” boss, wants to take her – and her friend – in, determined to make her the next big thing. As if things weren’t already messy enough, the duo must  accomplish their mission while caught in the middle of a celebrity rivalry, à la All About Eve, between a terror diva and digital-age phantom influencer as they fight for the attention of the public, living and dead.

After Marry My Dead Body (Cheng Wei-hao, 2022), Dead Talents Society marks another winning supernatural comedy entry for Taiwan. Filmmaker and IFFR multi-time returnee John Hsu crafts a charmingly bureaucratic and culturally specific afterlife, where the burning of fake money ends up as the netherworld currency for deceased loved ones. Filled with multilingual wordplay, this genuinely heartfelt emotional rollercoaster of a horror comedy is a tribute to the power of individuality and found family.

– Olivia Popp

Trailer

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