Detention Brings Taiwan’s Dark History to New Audience in Film Adaptation



Detention developer Red Candle Games is finally making statements again after a long absence, and I must admit a sigh of relief that they’ve returned. After a disastrous launch and immediate retraction of their game Devotion, the team went silent. Given the ties between that uproar and a displeased Chinese government, there was some reason to worry. Their recent apology makes that even more clear, giving anyone outside of China further apprehension.

Not all news out of the studio is bad, however. Taiwan-based film company 1 Production Film Co has released a trailer and a handful of Facebook posts about their upcoming movie adaptation of the game. The quality looks great, and the trailer is an introduction to the most gripping moments of the game. Detention was created to be visually striking, with a riveting narrative, making it a great candidate for further adaptation. That Detention‘s story is critically important to world history and virtually unknown outside of the region is one more reason to enjoy its jump to the silver screen.

Detention tells the story of a young woman who awakes in her school one day after everyone has gone home. The building is host to many horrible apparitions at night, and she must carefully navigate the stories and customs of her past to escape. As she does, memories of the totalitarian rule of the White Terror come back to haunt her, along with memories of the things everyone did to survive. The monsters Fang fears at night aren’t the worst things these halls have seen.

We gave Detention a 9/10 in our review. We can only hope that the movie lives up to that score and continues to educate audiences through its terrifying, touching story and stunning cinematic moments. Detention will release on September 20, 2019. Keep an eye out for further news of US and EU access points and streaming platforms.