The World Behind The Teenage Psychic

The World Behind The Teenage Psychic

2018 · 44 min · Documentary

The World Behind The Teenage Psychic is an HBO Asia original documentary that seeks to delve deeper into the traditions and culture that the coming-of-age series, The Teenage Psychic, is based on. Filmed entirely in Taiwan, the hour-long Mandarin documentary explores some of the unique shamanistic practices that call Taiwan home - taking the audience on a journey through the rituals and beliefs surrounding the Ghost Month. The Ghost Month is the pinnacle of the annual spiritual calendar in Taiwan - when the gates of hell are said to open, and spirits enter the world of the living. Weaving through the festivities, THE WORLD BEHIND THE TEENAGE PSYCHIC follows different characters to explore how a distinct blend of Taoist, Buddhist, Chinese Folklore and indigenous belief systems continue to flourish in modern Taiwan.

Directed by Stefano Centini

Your Rating

Cast

Lee Chien-na

Make it a double feature

2h 14m together

The World Behind The Teenage Psychic

A Holy Family

Both from Stefano Centini.

More from Stefano CentiniSee all →

Mother Bhumi

Mother Bhumi · 2025

MovieDramaHistory

In a community of farmers living on the Malaysia-Thailand border, Hong Im recently lost her husband under mysterious circumstances. Hong Im uses black magic to address villagers’ everyday issues until she encounters a ghost that reveals a secret about her husband’s death.

A Holy Family

A Holy Family · 2022

MovieDocumentary

The director gets a phone call from his aged mother. A stubborn woman, she worries about the future of the rest of the family. The father is a gambling addict in poor health; the brother is penniless yet sure of his talent as a medium. Looking back at the reasons he left 20 years earlier, Elvis A-Liang Lu creates a wonderful family portrait, touching and full of light.

Wishing on a Star

Wishing on a Star · 2024

Wishing on a Star

MovieDocumentaryComedy

A comedy documentary about the search for happiness. The Italian astrologist Lucciana can alter the destinies of people. On their birthdays they have to travel to whatever location on Earth has the ideal constellation of planets over it. They will be reborn on that day and so be able to change their nature. On the one hand, the film follows the everyday (and unchanging) life of the fortune-teller who changes the lives of people while, on the other hand, it follows five protagonists who set out to various places in the world in order to change their lives.

Waking Hours

Waking Hours · 2025

MovieDocumentary

At the verge of the forest, stealthy human presences gather around the fire while, from afar, the rumble of gunshots echoes. Not far there is a wall made of sharp metal marking the beginning of Europe. A clan of Afghan smugglers lives waiting for people to lead to the other side of the border, wandering through the labyrinth of an eternal and sleepless night.

Việt and Nam

Việt and Nam · 2024

In the depths of the underground coal mines, where danger awaits and darkness prevails, Nam and Việt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea.

Familiar

Familiar · 2023

Dragos Binder is doing research in order to write a fiction film based on the true event of his parents fleeing the country in the 80s communist Romania, but then he changes the subject, moving the camera lens on himself.

Essential Truths of the Lake

Essential Truths of the Lake · 2023

Essential Truths of the Lake

Faced with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody murders and brazen lies, ethically conflicted police lieutenant Hermes Papauran continues his struggle to find a resolution to a 15-year-old case around a volcanic ash-laden landscape and an impenetrable lake.

Pasta Negra

Pasta Negra · 2025

Three Venezuelan women cross the border into Colombia to buy a packet of pasta.

The Settlers

The Settlers · 2023

MovieDramaWestern

Chile, early 20th century. José Menéndez, a wealthy landowner, hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia.

Stranger Eyes

Stranger Eyes · 2024

MovieCrimeMystery

After the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realizes someone has been filming their daily life — even in their most intimate moments. The police set up surveillance around their home to catch the voyeur but the family starts to crumble as secrets unravel under the scrutiny of eyes watching them from all sides.

Transamazonia

Transamazonia · 2025

Rebecca, the daughter of missionary Lawrence Byrne, was declared a “miracle” after she survived a plane crash as a child, deep in the Amazon Forest. Years later, Rebecca, who became a famous healer in the region, and her father find themselves embroiled in an escalating conflict when illegal loggers invade the land belonging to the indigenous people they are evangelizing.

The Human Surge 3

The Human Surge 3 · 2024

The Human Surge 3

MovieDramaDocumentary

Different groups of people wander in a rainy, windy, dark world. They spend time together, trying to get away from their depressing jobs, meandering constantly towards a disturbing surreal queer fantasy.

Heads or Tails?

Heads or Tails? · 2025

Heads or Tails?

MovieWesternComedy

When cowboy Billi and his sweetheart Rosa run away together, he is accused of her husband's death and becomes the symbol of a local uprising. Everyone wants his head and only Rosa knows the secret that could finally set them free.

Tomorrow Is a Long Time

Tomorrow Is a Long Time · 2024

Tomorrow Is a Long Time

Life is not the most fulfilling for sixteen-year-old Meng: Lounging at home with his grieving father on a daily basis, being excluded from his family’s past, and forced into bullying other kids at school. Everything changes when he is thrown into a life-altering adventure that propels him into an exciting unfamiliar landscape.

I, the Song

I, the Song · 2025

MovieDramaMystery

In Bhutan, a country of 700,000 people, everyone knows everyone else. Nima, a schoolteacher, faces trouble when an explicit intimate video surfaces online, featuring a woman who looks exactly like her. Determined to calm her students’ outraged parents, Nima embarks on a quest to find her naughty lookalike. But her doppelganger, Meto, has disappeared without a trace. The locals, struck by Nima’s uncanny resemblance to Meto, begin to believe she is Meto’s long-lost ghost. The village elders suggest singing Aum Tshomo’s sacred song to unravel the mystery. Now, Nima must open her heart and sing to rebuild her shattered life.

In My Mother's Skin

In My Mother's Skin · 2023

In My Mother's Skin

MovieHorrorFantasy

Stranded in the Philippines during World War II, a young girl finds that her duty to protect her dying mother is complicated by her misplaced trust in a beguiling, flesh-eating fairy.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter