Boys

Beat Him Up focuses on issues of bullying and mental health, exploring the profound ways in which guilt and repressed emotions can change and ruin lives. Set in a Taiwanese high school, the film follows the weak-willed Zhang Shi-hao, who becomes jealous when a new transfer student called Lin Yu-en steals his girlfriend and eventually gets her pregnant. Although Zhang is too meek to take revenge, his best friend A-Yang sets up a brutal attack on Lin with a group of other boys. The timid Zhang joins in, releasing his pent up anger and frustration, feeling a sense of satisfaction afterwards, which turns to shock and guilt when Lin collapses and dies during a PE lesson the next day. Blaming himself, the tormented Zhang decides to confess, though fate has something else in store for him. Through Zhang's personal journey, the film examines the process of redemption, asking the question whether guilt can be a positive force, pushing us to rise above our shortcomings.

A high school student named Ji Qing kills his classmate. After being released from prison, he begins working at a funeral home to learn embalming, seemingly to start his life over. During this time, he lives under the supervision of a social worker, Mr. Zhang, for three months. While Mr. Zhang appears ordinary and by-the-book to everyone else, Ji Qing senses something mysterious about him. He sneaks into Zhang’s home to spy on his private life, planning to reveal to him the secrets he has learned from the spirit world.

Lu Bin, a taciturn young man who has recently been released from a juvenile detention centre, is assigned to learn cooking at a culinary school. On his third day under the instruction of the head chef Ms. Li, a sum of money disappears from the school office. The teachers at the school turn their suspicion to Lu Bin. While Ms. Li is a strict teacher to Lu Bin, she also sympathizes with him. If Lu Bin is identified as a thief, he will be expelled from the school. Two teachers decide to investigate further, and Ms. Li is forced to face her suspicion of Lu Bin, along with another unexpected secret.