A Foggy Tale

Best Narrative Feature, 2025 Golden Horse Awards

The young Yue knows something is brewing with the arrival of the Nationalist government. There are idealists like her brother who maintain hope for a future without wars. But in the backdrop are also disappearances of dissidents and ordinary Taiwanese. When she gets news that her brother has been executed by firing squad, Yue sets out to Taipei to collect his body. The task turns out to be more treacherous – and expensive – than foreseen, setting off an adventure of determination, guile, and coming-of-age in a repressive society.

One of Taiwan’s great blockbuster directors, Chen Yu-Hsun (Zone Pro Site, My Missing Valentine) delivers an epic family melodrama with a memorable cast who join Yue on her quixotic quest for dignity. In a city of traps and cons, there’s the jovial Kung-tao who sees in Yue the indignant determination of the outsider. Chen spins a heart-stirring charmer that is part-fairy tale, part-historical document, a testament to the spirit of young people holding on to basic decency in the darkest times.

–Brian Hu