The discovery of a woman’s corpse ironically saves the life of Wu Jie, a down-on-her-luck police detective whose life is falling apart. Soon more bodies and ominous clues emerge, revealing the work of a vicious serial killer targeting illegal migrant workers. With a local broker for the immigrants as a potential suspect, Wu Jie tenaciously pursues the case and finds herself vaulted from her own dire existential crisis into a harrowing realm of madness. Director Tseng Ying-ting (The Last Verse, NYAFF 2018) masterfully blends the police procedural with psychological themes and social issues into a transcendently insightful examination of the human psyche. Painting the world of The Abandoned with haunting cinematic strokes, deftly reflecting the modern malaise of a world gone wrong, he also offers a shining glimmer of hope.