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Photo Credit: South China Morning Post
At first glance, a film about a newly deceased Taiwanese teenager doesn’t give an impression of relatability. However, John Hsu’s Dead Talents Society (2024) reassures us that our coming-of-age can happen in the afterlife – and that family can be found anywhere (even with the undead).
My found family is, perhaps, the most important thing in my life. Without those friends that have become much more than just friends, I truly don’t know where I would be. They are the people who have always given me the confidence and the support I needed to pursue my dreams and make my mark on this world. But, more importantly, they are the people who I can trust, confide in, and rely on. The importance of found family to me is exactly why films like Dead Talents Society reach such a special place in my heart.
At the core of the comedy and horror of Dead Talents Society lies a newly deceased teenage girl (played by Gingle Wang) and a star ghostress named Catherine who is fading from the limelight of the afterlife. They, along with a group of misfit ghosts, find themselves working together to scare unsuspecting humans with one shared goal in mind — to not disappear.
Each of these characters, from Bolin Chen’s struggling talent agent to Chingi Pai’s Camilla, are endlessly charming. These characters are one of the film’s strongest aspects. Dead Talents Society is at its best when it takes a moment to breathe from its extremely and, at moments, too fast-paced scenes and allows us to just sit with these characters as they grow to care for each other and reflect on their lives before the afterlife.
The writing and performances in these slower parts of Dead Talents Society go a long way in tying together the rest of the film, which seems to struggle finding a balance between the horror and comedy elements that it aims for. The stunning, beautifully saturated cinematography and costuming/makeup carry the horror elements into a campy territory (which is far from a bad thing). The camp feeling of the horror aspects of Dead Talents Society help a lot in making the comedy feel more in place. When the humor of the film hits, it’s laugh-out-loud funny and absurd. However, it’s hard to escape the feeling that the very same humor can sometimes struggle to find its footing within scenes.
Don’t let that discourage you though. Dead Talents Society, overall, is a wonderfully moving coming-of-age (coming-of-death?) film about finding and continuing to find your place in the world and how the people around you can help you to hold on and teach you how to let go.
The Dead Talents Society’s heart-stopping found family earns it 3.5/5 stars and a promise to never step into a hotel again!
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