Best Taiwanese family movies

After a failed attempt to take his own life, a man discovers he's returned with four ghosts seeking to fulfil their last wishes in hopes of earning his own place in the afterlife.

In vacation with his girlfriend and his son, a father has to face an uncontrolled jealousy for the young boy.

A woman who believes she chose an unconventional path in her life is startled to find her children are stepping further beyond society's boundaries. Ai-tsao is a widow who is nearly 60 years old; her husband, over twenty years her senior, has been dead for nearly two decades, and Ai-tsao's life has settled into a comfortable routine of looking after her elderly mother and doting on her two adult children. Ai-tsao was born into a conservative and exclusionist minority family. After falling in love with a much older teacher of mainland descent, she abandoned her family and eloped. Decades later, her discovery that her son is gay and that her daughter has a black boyfriend makes her question choices in her past.

The tribal village gets misty in September, letting out an atmosphere as intriguing as Hayung's family in this autumn-winter season. After Hayung's homeland was occupied, one 80-year-old man devoted his whole life to worshipping GAGA. The traditions were forgotten by his descendants after his passing... The Hayung's family represented indigenous families in Taiwan. Each tribe represents a withering big family. The eldest son Pasang joins in the election campaign, neglecting the opposition from his family. The second son, who is a farmer, is thus affected. After the election campaign, the entire family is on the verge of falling apart, and the village witnesses the snow for the first time in a very long time... With snow melting, new lives emerge. The broken family has started mending and repairing...

More than just naughty, they play tricks on classmates, tease girls at school, fight with other boys, and lie to everyone until their teacher breaks down. They are named Liar No. 1 and Liar No. 2. The most important act planned in their life is to go to the mysterious water park, where they can leap through the portal at the end of the water slide to the fairy-tale world OZ and live as grown-ups happily ever after. However, the commitment is torn by a careless betrayal.

"Seven Days in Heaven" covers the 7 days of the Taoist morning ritual after the death of Lin Guo Yuan (Po Tai). The movie examines the effects of his death on his children, nephew, and sister-in-law ...

On the day Taiwan passes its same-sex marriage law, Wen-de’s daughter is at home, celebrating her new engagement to her girlfriend.

Peach Kid joins his friends to rescue the princess from the Devil's Apple King of Monster Island.

After finding a box of kittens above his unstable parents' apartment, teenager Kuo-Yen finds a terrifying way to cheat his exams.

An animated re-telling of the classical Chinese story of two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Zhu Yingtai was a girl born into an upper-class family during China's Eastern Jin Dynasty. Since women were not allowed to attend school, she begged her family to let her go, and they consented as long as she pretended to be a young man. There she met a handsome young upper-class man named Liang Shanbo. They instantly became friends and vowed to be sworn brothers forever. Yingtai hid her real identity from "Brother Liang" through the three years they studied together at Hangzhou. Her love for him grew to consume her, and she thought of nothing else but spending all of her days with Brother Liang.

When Molly commits suicide, her mother uses technology to relive her experiences and investigate why she died.

In a secluded indigenous tribe, 3 kids who grew up in the mountains and the woods. They are all very optimistic, energetic and playful; yet, they are also troubled by their own family issues. Their handicapped teacher opened an after school session to help them with their schoolwork. For the children, it's like a ray of love shone on them. The teacher has a beautiful voice, but never sings. One day, the 3 kids find a tape of their teacher's recording and are amazed by her voice. They decide to bring this tape to Taipei.... What changes will this trip bring to all of their lives?

9-year-old Lan and his dad always enjoyed time together in Dad's boat art shop. One day Lan came home and suddenly found Dad dies. Lan is shocked. Dad disappears forever. Sister never cries and refuses to speak to Mom. And Mom insists to prepare a seat for Dad every dinner as if Dad were alive. What is worse, Lan's classmates often laugh at him. Lan starts fighting and running away from school. As life gets harsher, he receives a package. It is a strange-shaped clock which has stopped. Dad sent it before he dies. Lan visits many stores trying to fix the clock but in vain. He hope he will have answer for everything when he eventually solved the mystery of the clock...

騰遠相隔了二十年，帶著懷有五個月的妻子回到台灣尋親。 眷村與夜市是他最深刻的記憶圖騰， 但滄海桑田、人事全非， 騰遠只憑著當初小學二年級匆匆離開時， 書包裡的一篇還沒有交出去的作文「我的爸爸」的內容開始按圖索驥， 尋找八歲以前他生命中的回憶…… 到底，騰遠是否能順利找回他失聯已久的父親與哥哥呢？

Damian who runs a restaurant in Taipei and has always had a dream of "getting a family and raising children". After two years of stable relationship with his boyfriend Jie Li, the two embarked on a surrogacy journey together and successfully gave birth to his son Kai Kai. Until the son entered the kindergarten and began to face the curiosity and differences of his peers and the gossip of the parents, the two fathers had to think about how to explain to the young Kaikai what "mother" was.

A karaoke-addicted elderly woman (Chen Shu-Fang) lives her life by the Taiwanese saying, “Guo Mie,” which translates to “as long as you devote your life to the creation of one thing, and do whatever you could, everything will turn out.” But her philosophy is seriously put into question as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her estranged husband. She attends the funeral only to encounter his younger lover and then finds out that her children might have kept in touch with her late husband secretly behind her back. Director Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu said that the story is based on his grandmother, who was forced to raise eight kids by herself after her husband ran away. The student short film was shot in his home country of Taiwan. Selected as a 2017 Student Academy Awards Finalist, the short also appeared in the 2018 Asian American International Film Festival. It’s the first time that lead actress Shu-Fang has sung in a film in over 40 years.

Sen Sen is a boy in Taiwan mourning his older brother's death. When he discovers a streaming website that his brother followed it leads him to an old lady with terminal cancer. Together they form an unlikely bond.

This romantic comedy is about a loser practicing how to “LOVE”.

When her daughter's slipping grades threaten their status in life, a mother resorts to extreme measures to avoid losing social standing.

Ku Ah-ming is a 4th grader at Chungshan Elementary School in Shuiyu Township, Taiwan. Despite being not very good in most subjects at school, he is very talented in art and has a great imagination, though most teachers don't know what he's expressing in his artwork.

Panay worked in the city as a journalist. One day, she found her tribe had been overdeveloped and changed by tourism. They were losing their land and their culture, so she decided to return home to bring back the abandon terrace. In this process, she found it's not only about the land, but also about who she really is.

A trio of happy-go-lucky workers wipe sweat and work hard in every corner. As Chang is feeling anxious about his large number of traffic tickets, Qi suggests to get help from a lawyer. These two workers meet with Quan, who is homeless because of rental problem. Qi who loves to dream of being wealthy decides to use his astonishing intuition and luck to take part in the reality TV show "Who is the lucky one" in the hope of winning the big prizes so he can help his friends and son to make their dreams come true. No matter how hard life is for these trio workers, they will always laugh with you.

Drama / Romance / Historical - Based on a traditional Chinese opera, this animated feature tells the tale of a 4th-century scholar who finds himself confused when he becomes attracted to a fellow student. Unbeknownst to him, the "he" is a she in disguise.

Yu-lan came to Taipei from southern Taiwan. She has got a successful career as a dancer. When her foster mother gets dementia, she has no choice but to retire and go back home. However, the trial and tribulation of her new life have reminded her of her childhood memories. During an argument with her mother’s foreign caretaker, the cause of her foster brother’s death and the secrets about her biological mother are gradually being revealed... As a woman of the advanced maternal age, Yu-lan has found herself unexpectedly pregnant with a baby. Following her heart, she has entered the circle of destiny. Departure means coming back, and her starting point is also her finish line. Is birth adjacent to or far away from death? Maybe at last, you’ll see that the shadow you met will be also the light to guide your life.

The memories on the taste buds, are those of growing up, of life, of past recollection, of families. In a sultry morning, on the top floor of an old apartment building in downtown Taipei, where a private kitchen is about to open, the female owner Li Xin-Yue has gone missing, abandoning the male owner of the private kitchen, her boyfriend Ji Wei-Ran, along with the unorganized storefront. In the old town area of Tainan, the roof of the old family Li mansion gets hit by a gusty wind, blowing away a piece of tile and leaving a hole on the rooftop. The wind follows through the hole, blowing into the Li’s, launching an upcoming family storm. The three sons of the Li who live separately have all returned. As they debate about the repair work, the conflicts hidden among their relationships start to surface.

Ah Bee, a former superstar motorcycle racer who gave up on the sport after a bad fall on the track left him physically and emotionally scarred. Now Ah Bee is a self-loathing, boozing, gambling layabout with a faithful girl named Maniu, a spunky tomboy who cooks his meals, launders his clothes and constantly reminds him of what a loser he is. Of course, she needles him in an adorably sassy way, making her one of those awesome in-the-movies-only girls who'll love a man faithfully even if he's a boozing, gambling layabout.

An unexpected kiss unburies memories and longing for Shu-yi, a mother quietly holding her family together despite her unhappiness. As her rebelling son Han grows drawn to the enigmatic Xue-jin, Shu-yi rekindles her past connection with the same woman in this tenderly crafted exploration of family dynamics, identity and desire.

A meek, middle-aged schoolteacher is put in charge of a class of trouble makers. Unable to withstand the torments they put him through, he runs away to a Shaolin temple. At the temple, he studies martial arts under the guidance of an old master. With his new skills, he returns to school and whips his misbehaving students into shape.

A woman who was overwhelmed by work and had no time to imagine the future. Her paralyzed life was interrupted by a live-streaming man who always has fun in life and acts wildly, resulting in a series of fermentation processes.

A strict father and his two boys share a calm life in a creaky old home. One summer moment changes everything for the brothers.

Peach Boy and his mother live in a village. One day, there is a young man that suddenly comes to the village and asks Peach Boy to be his teacher because. At the same time, the elder of the devil palace wants to set Peach Boy to the deathtrap. They grasp children in order to have better martial arts skills. Peach Boy becomes righteous and indignant, he decides to exorcise the demons, but unexpectedly, his mother is killed by the devil. The battle between Peach Boy and the devil is unavoidable... (taken from the VCD release)

Even in modern-day Taipei, women feel the societal pressure to get married and have children before the clock runs out. Thankfully, there is a solution: freeze your eggs and prolong your fertility until the right one comes along! Starring Ariel Lin, the film is a glimpse of what millions of working women struggle with: finding the balance between pursuing a career and marriage.

The millennium summer was the best days in Ren-jie's life. He met Xiao-ping, walked hand in hand with her through their youth and wrote the opening sentence of his life poem. But a visit by his father in the military changed his life forever. He fell into the uneasy atmosphere of 2006. When he was discharged from the air force, the cruel reality wore away their romantic love. Ren-jie had to leave Xiao-ping. They fell in love under the sun and out of it at sunset. The days tortured them and blurred they clear eyes. When they finally got back together, would they recite again the poem on how beautify life is?

This is not a story about a loving grandmother.

The unscrupulous owner of Crazy TV sets out to lower the channel's ratings so he can sell it to mobster Mr. David for cheap and count his losses. He promotes failing producer Yeh to program director and fires the staff.

A loser in life, Nan is infatuated with the animation series, Bobita. He later meets a girl, but he could never expect both the girl and his grandfather end up leaving him.

Sheng Enterprise has originated from a famous Mahjong family, and the story of Big Three Dragons begins with the game of Mahjong.

Follows two women who re-encounter each other after 30 years apart. Against all odds, they fall in love once again, and despite that youth is no longer on their side, they decide to spend the remaining of their twilight years in each other’s arms, no matter how much that may be.

Yearning to reunite with his father in Kaohsiung city, Manawei joins his elementary school’s dance troupe.

Jason and his mother, Yun, make big bucks together in Chinatown swindling money out of people since Jason was little. Along with the grocery store owner Andy who took them in since Jason was a baby, they decide to do one last big job. Their target is Mrs. Apple, the founder of Tao Lin, a world renowned porcelain company. Jason pretends to be that rich old granny's long lost grandson, and Mrs. Apple insists on bringing Jason back to Taiwan, so that Jason can officially reclaim his heritage. In Mrs. Apple's extravagant house, these foreigners start role-playing to infiltrate the Zong Family. Jason starts to feel the warmth of being a part of a family that he has never felt before. This has greatly affected Team America's plan, the three of them start to blame and fight each other. Their cover is about to be exposed, but somehow the truth of Jason's family mystery is revealed..

The happy lives of animals in the forest are stirred by the sudden attack of a pack of wolves. Uncle Deer comes to the rescue, and asks Birdy to notify his son, the Deer Warrior. Deer and his rival, Sika Deer fight for the love of Miss Deer while Foxy mingles with the leader of the wolves, desiring to be the prettiest in the land. A truly bizarre family (?) film from critic and pioneer Chang Ying.

A professional hand model Ching suffers from post-natal depression and her architect husband Hsuing is unable to deal with it, driving their marriage to the brink of collapse.

Shouldering all of her family's responsibilities, a mother scrambles to find a bigger apartment for her suddenly crowded household.

Taiwanese horror comedy

Aspiring AV actresses Liz Ai Ai and Berry fail to break into the industry and somehow end up joining a wrestling club, where they use their AV-style “special moves” to rise to superstardom. Starring Kimi HSIA, Gemma WU and Tiara HUANG, with stunts directed by Japanese wrestling promotion Stardom, this is a comedy about the struggles and tears behind the pursuit of dreams.

Follows a young girl as she embarks on a perilous journey to earn funds to reclaim her family's remains.

Giant fire breathing rubber dragons, laser firing Ying/Yang symbols, giggling evil midgets, flying children, invisible women..

Melody, a teenage girl, lives in a borrowed mansion together with her parents, whose marriage is on the rocks. Though they look like a happy family, they are three people struggling in the game of life. A long-deserted amusement park appears to be the only way out.

A high-school girl resents her family’s traditional Taiwanese funeral business, but gains the attention of the whole school after using her knowledge of traditional funerals to help a popular but secretly suicidal classmate perform a “living funeral”. She begins providing living funeral therapy to other schoolmates, helping them with their personal problems such as depression, pressure from schoolwork, and bullying. However, in a dramatic turn, her therapy services quickly start to affect her family, social, and romantic relationships.

Once upon a time, the Magical Tank Fairy delivered tanks of gas (with plenty of sass) to the home of young Jojo, a lonely dreamer in need of a glittery godmother…

In a declining small town, an idle boy encounters a heartbroken girl. Trying to escape, they devise a secret plan and set off for a one-way journey.

A scientist buried in his work to avoid the pain of his wife's death, he brings a robot home which looks just like his wife. The robot carries the burden of making her two daughters "happy". Tzu-Yu, a scientific girl who inherited her father's talent. She has not only to face the huge changes caused by her robot mother, but also the pressure of the competition. Moreover, the romance between her and the gifted transfer student Yi-Hsiu, making her sip the sweet and sour taste of growing up.

Young students of martial arts must prove themselves worthy to their overbearing Master.

An evil sorcerer traps a young hopping zombie and his friend with magic. He later tries to raise an army of zombies to help carry out his nefarious schemes. It is up to a few heroes to try to stop his sinister schemes and his undead minions. (from ZMDB)

Chi Kuan Chun is the man. He looks in top form as swordsman. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is pretty wacky. Kung Fu gorillas, witches, and Chen Kuan Tai singing Italian opera. So little kid with swirling axe fights evil wizard dude, lasereyes, the above mentioned gorilla do you need to know more?

film about a little boy and his friend, the ganoderma alien (translation of the Chinese title) named Y Y. On a hunting trip, some men see a large mushroom. Their guide tells them it's a god that has saved many people. The men don't care and knock it off a cliff. Bing, wraps it up and takes it home. That night, the mushroom grows a face and starts walking around the house. Soon, a friendship is born. All is well until one of dad's hunting buddies realizes Y Y's healing powers. He takes Y Y to sell him and it's up to Bing and his human friend, Fatty, to rescue Y Y and return him to his cliff.

1990 Taiwan film, directed by Li-Kuo Yang.