THE SOUL on Netflix is a movie from Taiwan (org. title Ji hun) that offers an amazing ride through the thriller, sci-fi, drama, and mystery genres. With a runtime of just over two hours, you’re in for a treat. Read our full The Soul movie review here!
THE SOUL is a new Netflix movie from Taiwan with the org. title Ji hun. The movie is based on Jiang Bo’s novel “Transfer Soul” which I was not familiar with. I wasn’t sure what to expect and the trailer didn’t do much to prepare me. However, within the first few minutes, I knew I would be happy with it.
Rarely has a movie earned covering the four genres thriller, sci-fi, drama, and mystery better. It has moments where it fully embraces each genre. Also, I never expected it to have so many twists and turns along the way. However, I loved it!
Continue reading our The Soul movie review below and find it on Netflix now.
Character-based genre movie from Taiwan
This Netflix movie is all about the characters. Sure, there is a breathtaking (and sometimes really wild) story at the heart of it, but it all comes together because the characters are believable. This is after all a sci-fi, thriller, and mystery hybrid with drama to tie it all together. That takes serious skill.
I’ve long big a huge fan of South Korean productions and lately, Taiwanese movies have proven to be of very high quality as well. Now, with The Soul, I would say a movie from Taiwan is on the same level as South Korean films.
Do check out: Our review of the Taiwanese Netflix sci-fi anthology series Til Death Do Us Part here >
Sure, you probably won’t know the actors, but that honestly doesn’t matter when the stories and emotions are universal – or even out of this world! The cast was largely unfamiliar to me, but they deliver the most amazing portrayals.
Especially Janine Chun-Ning as police detective A Bao was brilliant. Also, she has one of the most badass scenes in the entire movie. As the prosecutor battling cancer, we have Chen Chang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). These two characters are married and have a relationship that really breaks through the screen.
The ending of The Soul on Netflix ** Spoiler-free**
The Soul movie ending was so full of plot twists that I can’t blame anyone for wondering if they caught it all. However, please, do yourself a favor and simply rewind and watch it again if you get confused. You need to just absorb all of these twists and turns as they happen!
To me, the entire movie was good and well worth its +2 hour runtime. However, the ending of The Soul was what blew my mind completely. We’re dealing with all the biggest things in the life of human beings – primarily the power of love and the love of power.
Honestly, if I was to give anyone a summary of the plot in The Soul, it would sound like a straight-up soap opera. And that would be a damn shame. This movie is so much more and manages to carry out the most amazing plot twists in brilliant and elegant ways.
Watch The Soul sci-fi mystery on Netflix
The Soul was written and directed by Wei-Hao Cheng who already has several movies to his name. He also directed the crime-thriller Who Killed Cock Robin? (org. title Mu ji zhe) which secured several award nominations and a solid IMDb rating.
This latest movie and the above mentioned are also the only two of his movies that Wei-Hao Cheng wrote himself. It would appear that this is the way to go for him since he clearly has a talent for the whole writer-director combo.
The very final reveal in The Soul was both heartbreaking and extremely uplifting. At the heart of this movie is love in all forms. Including self-love and what we’re willing to do to achieve this.
Also, the complete and unconditional love in families and between lovers can make us do just about anything. This movie illustrates that perfectly. Ultimately, I am in awe of how elegantly the very complex story came across in this Netflix movie from Taiwan. Do not miss this one!
The Soul (org. title Ji hun) is out on Netflix from April 14, 2021.
Details
Director: Wei-Hao Cheng
Writer: Wei-Hao Cheng
Stars: Chen Chang, Janine Chun-Ning Chang, Anke Sun, Christopher Ming-Shun Lee, Baijia Zhang, Hui-Min Lin
Plot
While investigating the death of a businessman, a prosecutor and his wife uncover occult secrets as they face their own life-and-death dilemma.
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