| Soul | |
| Director: | Chung Mong-hong |
| Producer: | Tseng Shao-chien Yeh Ju-feng |
| Starring: | Joseph Chang Jimmy Wang |
| Music: | Tseng Seu-ming |
| Cinematography: | Nagao Nakashima |
| Editing: | Lo Shih-ching |
| Distributor: | Ifilm |
| Runtime: | 111 minutes |
| Country: | Taiwan |
| Language: | Mandarin |
Soul is a 2013 Taiwanese horror film written and directed by Chung Mong-hong. The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards,[1] [2] but it was not nominated. The film was screened in the Vanguard section of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[3]
A young man, ah-Chuan, falls unconscious at work. At his bedside, a boy offers him his room in a few days, as he (the boy) will be leaving.
Ah-Chuan is sent to stay with his father, Mr. Wang, in the mountains. Ah-Chuan's older sister comes by, but is disturbed by his behaviour upon waking. Ah-Chuan kills her.
When confronted by Mr. Wang, Ah-Chuan says he entered the body because the real ah-Chuan left it, but will return shortly. Mr. Wang hides his daughter's body, kills his son-in-law when he arrives, and buries the son-in-law's car. He confines ah-Chuan to a shed. A messenger appears and tells ah-Chuan that the real ah-Chuan won't be back for a while.
At the clinic, Mr. Wang reveals that his late wife killed herself due to depression. Later, he uncovers an old well and persuades ah-Chuan to jump in. Ah-Chuan jumps in and sees visions of ah-Chuan and his mother, then awakens in the house. Mr. Wang reveals that his wife didn't kill herself, but asked him for a mercy killing in the shed.
A city cop arrives to investigate the disappearance of Mr. Wang's daughter and son-in-law. Ah-Chuan kills the city cop.
Ah-Chuan's police friend, Wu, checks on Ah-Chuan, who injures him in the eye, pursues him through the woods, then saves him from drowning. As ah-Chuan walks away, Wu shoots him in the back.
Mr. Wang takes them down the mountain while concocting a different version of events - taking all blame for the murders - for Wu to use.
One year later, ah-Chuan works in the mountains and Mr. Wang has been transferred to a sanitorium due to poor health. Ah-Chuan visits and tells him about the first time he met the real ah-Chuan (in spirit form), who said he was going home.