It's not easy being dead. This has been shown in a variety of movies, and in a variety of ways. You'd think that it would just be, well, nothing. The big sleep. A change of energy without any further pain or trouble. But, according to many movies, it can be a very difficult transition. You have to first accept the idea that you've died. You have to learn the rules governing your existence. And then, sometimes, you have to figure out what to do in order to avoid a secondary kind of death that affects those already dead. That might require some magic, it might require doing some harm to others, or it may just need you to ensure that you live on in the memory of those who inadvertently keep you "alive" in their thoughts.
Dead Talents Society is all about spirits needing to be remembered to maintain their existence. They need to figure out a good enough gimmick though, a way to become a popular urban legend. If a ghost has been busy ensuring that one hotel room is infamously haunted then that ghost has nothing to worry about. The same goes for anyone who may appear in some strange video recordings. You get the idea. Catherine (Sandrine Pinna) was once the queen of such stuff, but her star has faded over time, and she's been superseded by her own protégé, Jessica (Eleven Yao). Catherine is still helped by her manager, Makoto (Chen Bolin), and tensions arise when Makoto also decides to help out "The Rookie" (Gingle Wang), a young woman who wants to stick around in the afterlife, but doesn't have any apparent talent. All she has is her one friend, Camilla (Bai Bai AKA Ching-I Pai), and a strong will to avoid permanent non-existence. The clock is ticking, and it's up to Makoto and co. to turn The Rookie from a shy and quiet spirit into an effectively memorable haunter.
My biggest worry when reviewing Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean et al. films is always tied to getting the names right. Many performers have different names, and those different names can also be mistakenly credited in an incorrect format. So I take a bit more time when reviewing these movies, and I tend to do that more when it's a film that I strongly believe others should check out. Dead Talents Society is one that everyone should make time for. In fact, I'd go one step further. Director John Hsu, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kun-lin Tsai, is someone that everyone should make time for. I know that I'll be working through a few of his other films (one features and a number of shorts) in the next few weeks.
Hsu and Tsai deliver a wonderful mix of central characters, set up the rules and main premise with fun and clarity, and find a way to go from start to finish with one eye on the potential of the supernatural shenanigans and one eye on the emotional heart of everything. This is a film about a ghost learning to be a proper ghost in an environment where she is surrounded by others who are already settled into their roles, but it's equally in line with many other films about youngsters developing confidence, skills, and the emotional maturity to process experiences that they used to have framed in very different ways.
Wang is a wonderful lead, although she gets to share that responsibility with both Pinna and Bolin, who are both fantastic. They all feel nicely poised between energised and exasperated, depending on how any one moment plays out for them. Yao is hilariously assured and unshakable as the young spirit who has positioned herself as the new gold standard in haunting hijinks. And Bai Bai does a very good job as the supportive friend, although she has to make room for the mentors who might also form some kind of friendship with our lead.
There may not be any actual scares here, but the horror imagery if spot on, which makes it easier to remember that this is a world of spirits and frights. The comedy works, the effects are impressive, thanks in no small part to a mix of practical work and CGI that doesn't make any of the big moments feel over-stuffed, and there's no one aspect, from the score to the supporting performances, that I could single out for criticism. Aside from a bit of time spent tying things up neatly in some of the final scenes, this is a near-perfect supernatural comedy. And I'll just say it . . . this is the film you should watch instead of the disappointing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
9/10
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