ISLANDERS

Are myths, folklore, and legends the wisdom our ancestors left behind as a warning for Taiwan’s near future? Or is it a modern fable called the “Islanders” AI app, using big data to manipulate social issues? This is Taiwan’s first AI-driven series, featuring a magical realism style. It combines local folklore, urban legends, myths, and contemporary social issues, presenting a cautionary modern fable for Taiwan’s near future.

Eight island stories adapted from Taiwanese myths and folklore form a modern allegory: A woman beyond childbearing age encounters a mythical white deer and feels a new life within her. A military fanatic meets a Taiwanese-Japanese soldier who believes World War II is still ongoing. A young couple, unable to afford a house, makes a deal with the devil to live in a mansion for 24 years in exchange for their souls. A man who steals an umbrella finds himself haunted by a female ghost; to free himself, he must help her find her way home. A diving instructor uses a hypnotic scenario to enter an underwater realm, where she redefines her relationship with her partner. A temple shaman communicates the deceased chief’s messages to devotees through online dissemination. Two generations of new residents enter politics by relying on intuitions endowed by Vietnamese Trưng beliefs. An engineer discovers that his company’s app, “Islander,” is being used to control society and struggles to decide whether to protect or destroy it.