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Jason King, Zin Yang and Eugenie Liu have joined the cast of “The Evil Inside,” the new thriller from acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Lingo Hsieh now in production. The trio joins international star Joan Chen, whose casting was previously announced by Variety, in the genre-bending film inspired by real-life events that shook a nation.

The project marks Chen’s first Taiwanese feature film, adding another milestone to the career of the actor known for “The Last Emperor,” “Lust, Caution” and “Didi.”

King, a veteran of Taiwanese cinema since the 1980s who earned a Golden Horse Award nomination last year for “A Journey in Spring,” will play Guang, an evangelical figure running a nursing facility with dark secrets. The character exploits terminally ill patients in an illegal gambling operation disguised as compassionate care.

“Even though this character has a lot of evil inside, I still want to show the humanity of such a dark person,...

A number of Taiwanese LGBTQ+ related films have been circulating recently, but none so with the themes “Wrath of Desire” copes with. That alone should make for an interesting watching experience, even if director Zero Chou manages to make this film a unique experience regardless of context.

Wrath of Desire is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival

“Wrath of Desire” is about the androgynous Phoenix Du, a truly mysterious character who kills a man that illegally enters their apartment. Accused of excessive force, Du comes before prosecutor Jade Liu. However, before Liu prosecutes Du, they share a single night together that would lead to both their lives changing forever. With Du being sentenced to three years in prison by Liu, the latter tries to forget about them, and takes in a young transsexual woman called Meng Ye, who brings along her own troubles.

The film opens with a bizarre scene...

According to some sources, Zero Chou is the only openly lesbian filmmaker in Taiwan, so it does not come as a surprise that she often tackles LGBTQ+-related topics. For her second feature film “Spider Lilies” (2007), she was awarded with the Teddy Award at Berlinale. After nearly a decade of work predominantly on television and on documentaries, she is back with her newest feature “Wrath of Desire”, which premiered in the more radical Rebels With a Cause competition at Tallinn Black Nights. As it is suggested in a short graphic before the opening credits, it is the first instalment of the intended six-film series about LGBTQ+ romances set in the different East-Asian cities.

“Wrath of Desire” is screening at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

After a prologue set on a beach in an imaginary world, presumably in the afterlife, we meet Phoenix Du (Peace Yang) as she is being attacked...