Hong Kong’s Highest-Grossing Animated Film Is Finally Coming to the U.S

Tommy Ng Kai Chung’s directorial debut, Another World, originated as a compelling 14-minute short. Its profound impact on the 2019 international festival circuit paved the way for a fully realized feature-length adaptation. This animated masterpiece, adapted from Naka Saijo’s novel Sennenki, clinched the Golden Horse Award for Best Animated Feature—the pinnacle of Chinese-language cinema—and currently stands as the highest-grossing animated film in Hong Kong’s history. North American audiences can experience the film when it arrives in theaters on June 5.

The inaugural trailer, unveiled on Thursday, favors an impressionistic tone over explicit storytelling. It presents a haunting, ethereal landscape through which a young girl and a masked spirit traverse, evocative of beauty, profound sorrow, and underlying menace. GKIDS, the New York-based distributor spearheading the North American release, provides vital context for these striking visuals:

Gudo is a Soul Keeper, an ethereal entity tasked with guiding spirits to the afterlife. Upon befriending a young girl named Yuri, he uncovers that her premature passing has left her shackled by a curse of deep-seated rage and regret. With her soul on the precipice of total erasure, Gudo launches a perilous mission to prevent her from wreaking catastrophic havoc upon both the mortal and spiritual planes. Another World serves as a somber fairy tale, masterfully exploring themes of forgiveness and reconciliation amidst a landscape of hatred and despair.

A true triumph of international artistry, the production united creators from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, France, and the Philippines. The theatrical run will feature the film in its original Cantonese with English subtitles. At this time, GKIDS has yet to confirm details regarding physical or digital home media releases.

Source: Polygon