Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Thu 19 Jun & Cineworld, Edinburgh, Sat 28 Jun

Chung Mong-Hong / Taiwan / 2013 / 112 mins

Part horror-thriller, part relationship drama and part Dostoyevskyan examination of evil and redemption; Soul is a difficult film to categorise but thanks to a combination of inventive direction and fine performances it proves to be an often absorbing tale. A-Chuan (Hsiao-chuan Chang) collapses at work and is sent to recuperate at his father’s (Yu Wang) hill farm. From the moment he arrives he acts strangely and when he commits a terrible act his father puts parental loyalty before legal considerations.

Director Chung Mong-hong uses distortions, cut-aways and a bold colour palette to mirror the unhinged workings of A-Chuan’s mind. In combination with the icy detachment of Chang’s playing and the stillness of Wang’s, there’s a constant atmosphere of dread throughout. The tense mood is alleviated by the bumbling comic relief of Vincent Liang as Little Wu, A-Chuan’s childhood friend and local policeman, still in awe of his charismatic schoolmate. This is a film that works on all of its different levels. It’s a more than serviceable thriller and it certainly doesn’t hold back on the blood and gore, but it’s also effective in capturing the thin line between the worlds of the sane and insane.

Screening as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival