Nelicia Low’s hypnotic, suspenseful drama stars Liu Hsiu-fu as Zijie, a teenage fencing enthusiast with an agonizing uncertainty hanging over him. His big brother Zihan (Tsao Yu-ning) has just been released from detention after serving time for murder. Zijie is forbidden from seeing his sibling, but he reaches out anyway, and what follows is his attempt to figure out who to believe: Zihan, who insists he was wrongly convicted, or their mother (Ding Ning), who says justice was served.
Fencing makes a great metaphor for the aggression, misdirection, and strategizing we see play out over the course of the film. At times Zihan seems sincere and benevolent, but in other moments he exudes menace; the dynamic between him and his younger brother is different in every encounter, and the mystery at the core of their relationship generates a thrilling atmosphere of danger. Tsao gives a subtle, compelling performance, and as the wide-eyed, fearful protagonist, Liu is terrific.
Best Director Award, Karlovy Vary 2024
Media Partner
Community Partner
Liu Hsiu-Fu, Tsao Yu-Ning, Ding Ning
Singapore/Taiwan/Poland
2024
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
John M. Lo, Daniel Young, Jennifer Jao, Lin Tien Kuei
Producer
Sam Chua Weishi, Jeremy Chua, Patrick Mao Huang, Izabela Igel, John M. Lo
Screenwriter
Nelicia Low
Cinematography
Michal Dymek
Editor
Nelicia Low, Eric Mendelsohn
Production Design
Marcus Cheng, Hsu Kuei-Ting
Original Music
Piotr Kurek
Nelicia Low
Writer/director Nelicia Low grew up in Singapore where she was a national fencer for five years, retiring after the 2010 Asian Games to pursue filmmaking. Nelicia received her MFA in film directing at Columbia University in 2018. Her short film, Freeze (2016), premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand ISFF and went on to screen at film festivals around the world including the Taipei Golden Horse FF, Busan ISFF, and Singapore IFF. She was selected for the 2018 Singapore IFF’s Southeast Asian Film Lab, 2019 Less is More European Film Lab, and 2017 New Waves: Emerging Voices of Southeast Asia director showcase. Nelicia’s debut feature, Pierce, is a fencing-thriller based on her love for her autistic brother and poses the question – What is love?
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
Possible Love
Lee Chang-dong’s first film since Burning (2018) is a sardonic, slow-burning satire about two couples: a documentary filmmaker married to a wealthy businessman, and a working-class family struggling to make ends meet after the husband has been laid off.
House of Hope
"House of Hope" is the name of a Waldorf elementary school near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, founded by Manar and her husband Milad. This documentary follows their efforts to go about their lives before, during, and after the events of October 7.
Halloween Live! The Crypt Keepers + The Day of the Beast
Amp up your Halloween with a unique live set of holidays cuts from The Crypt Keepers, followed by Alex de la Iglesias's cult comic horror Day of the Beast, a wild ride about a sinful Catholic priest on the warpath against Satan.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Once Upon a Time in Harlem splices together footage shot by William Greaves in 1972 of a group of Harlem Renaissance luminaries in conversation at Duke Ellington’s townhouse. The film is a living archive of memory, disagreement, style, and Black genius.
Get Out
Guess who's coming to dinner? Daniel Kaluuya is the Black boyfriend justifiably anxious about meeting his white girlfriend's folks for the first time in Jordan Peele's satiric modern horror classic, one of a series curated by our VIFF+ Premium members.
The Haunting
Directed by Robert Wise in 1963, The Haunting is a classic exercise in the suggestive power of cinema, adapted from Shirley Jackson's 1959 best-seller, The Haunting of Hill House, a provocative blend of supernatural and psychological horror.