Dir. I-Hsuan Su, Shiang-An Chuang, Yi Liu | Now Streaming On: Netflix | Rating: 2/5

This series was one of my most awaited horror releases of 2020. I fell in love with this show’s source material, a Taiwanese point-and-click horror video game by Red Candle Games of the same name, shortly after its release in 2017. The original game has a story that truly never leaves you, the imagery is haunting and disturbing. From the earthbound storyline of the White Terror to the appearances of the malevolent spirits known as “the lingered,” the game is a stellar piece of horror. ⁠
⁠
Maybe it was the strength of its source material that set me up to be let down. Detention the series was a let down for me. I was disappointed to see that it strayed so far from the original storyline. The biggest change in tv series from the game is that the storytelling is done across two timelines, the first timeline following Ruixin Fang in the 1960s and the second following Yunxiang Lui in the 1990s. The new characters, arcs, and details left the new storyline muddled, hard to follow, and significantly less hard hitting. We spend so much time trying to figure out what exactly is going on, we forget to be scared – which holds the exact opposite effect of its source material. ⁠
⁠
I watched this series with the original Taiwanese audio and English subtitles. It would be unfair to acknowledge the possibility that parts of the retelling become lost in translation. The quality of translated subtitles is always up in the air. Unless you speak the language of the source material, you could virtually be unaware that the information isn’t quite right. Something else to think about is how little of the history of the White Terror is taught in American world history curriculum, making some of these storylines entirely unfamiliar to an average viewer. If you’re interested in watching this through, be prepared to pay attention or check out a playthrough of the original game instead. ⁠
⁠
Know Before You Watch: Features political violence, death, blood, sexual assault. ⁠