Cha wu ci xin

A depressed policewoman (she is on the verge of suicide in the first shot of a film) investigates the murder of a young Thai woman whom she meets by chance. Other disappearances will follow. The bodies are mutilated. Is he a serial killer? She leads the investigation and manages to find out: it concerns a girl in an illegal situation in Taiwan; they arrive from Thailand. But some disappear and are found with missing organs.

Everything often takes place at night and often in the rain, in a dark, depressive atmosphere, very successful. Our investigator is not a superhero, and the Taiwanese police don't seem very efficient either. Janine Chun-Ning Chang carries the film and carries out the investigation with difficulty.

The film is a success in its genre. It maintains the viewer's attention until the culprit is identified and his confrontation with the policewoman.

The Abandoned didn't stand out in the list of possibilities. Its premise might call your attention if you are looking for a thriller, mainly because the premise feels serious, and the genre is the classic "who is the killer and why." Struggling to cope with the death of her partner, grieving deputy chief Wu Jie stumbles upon the work of a serial killer. Now she must solve the case before another girl gets killed.

The Abandoned follows classic mystery thriller elements, with some detective work and suspects. The climax is figuring out who is the killer and, of course, why he is the killer. It's your generic "whydunit" that The Abandoned executes well enough, entertaining if you want to watch a serious mystery thriller set on Taiwan.

The theme of dealing with loss of loved ones and betrayal are present throughout the movie. All relevant characters deal with some form of the theme, one believes one is guilty for one's loss, one believes one is right for standing his ground against one's loss, one believes one is right for murdering women that one believes are personifications of one's loss. Although the theme is present and strong during character development, the theme is not the focus; the focus is figuring out the serial killer.

The characters are variations of how one would deal with the theme. Main character Wu Jie is the character that feels she is responsible for her loss. Drama is real and effective as expected, but I felt that Wu Jie just abruptly embraces the case and her new partner Wei-shan. They didn't really share any relevant relationship, and Wu Jie, who in the beginning was reluctant about accepting hew new partner, out of the blue defends her, which feels a bit odd. The rest of her development is fine.

The interactions between the characters are alright. The dialogue feels believable, except for Wu Jie's sudden change from "I don't want to work anymore" to "let me work with Wei-shan and solve this case".

Police procedural is a bit absent in The Abandoned. Most of the investigation development happens in dialogue. Wu jei and Wei-shan figure out pieces of the puzzle and communicate.

The story takes place in suburban Taiwanese district. Nothing stands out in cinematography elements or in soundtrack: regular movie style.

Perhaps the only flaw in The Abandoned is that the list of suspects is small. Honestly, we get only three main suspects, which Wu Jei and Wei-shan dismisses quickly through detective work. When we get to the killer revelation, we feel a bit cheated.

The Abandoned does not reinvent the wheel. The story is purely entertainment.

Overall, The Abandoned is amusing for a quick mystery thriller entertainment. The movie does not raise any new factor or try to be innovative; it tries to tell a story to entertain, and it delivers alright.

Cha wu ci xin (The Abandoned) was one of the movies that I was waiting to watch. I had high expectations from this movie but my expectations did not match after watching the movie's ending. I can tell you that it is a really good movie until the ending of it. Janine Chang is a really good actress and I think that she should appear in TV Series and movies of the West. Nevertheless, I cannot say the same for Chloe Xiang because she is really overacting and it is obvious. The atmosphere of this movie is a bit depressive and if you are suicidal, you should stay away from this movie. I give 5 points out of 10 for this one because of it's ending. It could be much much better if the movie had a different ending and less emphasis on suicidal tendencies.

I am struggling here whether to give this movie a four star rating or five star, I know it maybe some new here in between.

I saw this Netflix last night after reading it was a way above average thriller which unfortunately was not true.

Now don't get me wrong, the film was good and I did enjoy it but the whole movie itself was tense enough for it to be very good.

Some of the scenes came across as comical when they were not meant to be, I think if the pace of the movie had been slower and more tension was out into some scenes then we would be talking about a six or seven star rating.

Overall worth a watch and then forget about it.

This Taiwanese police procedural is a dull, lifeless film that simply goes through the motions without reaching any discernible high points.

It begins with the usual hook for this genre: a serial killer makes life hard for a depressed detective, who has to come to terms with herself while chasing the madman with the help of her rookie colleague. That would be fine if the plot presented at least a few fresh ingredients throughout the runtime, but it just settles into a predictable rut and never manages to lift above it.

I can't quite say this is a terrible film since it is competently shot and acted well enough, I guess. But the writing is unexceptional, and even pretty weak at times, given that a few scenes come across as comical when they were obviously meant to be serious. Absolutely no surprises or interesting character work are at store for the viewer, and I believe that won't cut it for many genre fans.

It is available on Netflix for anyone interested, but I wouldn't recommend it.