Twisted Strings on HBO GO and Catchplay+ in March
January 26, 2022
Get entwined in the world of fantasy and suspense in the new HBO Asia Original series Twisted Strings, a satire anthology of selfishness, greed, and ignorance. The Chinese-language series premieres with two episodes on Sunday, March 27 on WarnerMedia’s HBO and HBO GO across Southeast Asia.
Executive produced by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien (The Assassin), the 7×60’ Taiwan thriller-comedy will debut a new episode every Sunday, with the last two episodes airing back-to-back on April 24. In Taiwan and Indonesia, the series will also simulcast on the Catchplay+ streaming service.
Twisted Strings follows a series of bizarre deaths happening in Taiping City. Against an eerie atmosphere, Wu Yuenu (played by award-winning actress, director and screenplay writer Sylvia Chang (Love Education, 20 30 40)) witnesses the deaths of people around her. A funeral, a missing body, a dangerous game, a kidnapping; real and unreal, these incidents are woven in Yuenu’s memories, converging in the mysterious Sailing Castle.
The name of the series is inspired by a popular Taiwanese nursery rhyme, which contains lyrics that tell the story of a monkey’s life over seven days. Each episode is loosely based on a line from the song.
The anthology series also has an ensemble of award-winning cast and crew including Golden Horse-winning actor Lee Kang-sheng (Stray Dogs, Days). This is Lee’s first lead role in a series after having starred in films for the past 30 years. Additional star-studded line-up includes Nikki Hsieh (I Weirdo, Reflections), Yo Yang (Ex-boyfriend, Formula 17), Yao Yi-Ti (The Gangs, The Oscars and The Walking Dead) , Duan Chun-Hao (We Are Champions), Hsueh Shih-Ling (HBO Asia Original Series Workers, Born Into Loving Hands), Michael J.Q. Huang (Father to Son, Wake Up), Tracy Chou (HBO Asia Original Series The World Between Us), David Wu (We Are Champions), Buffy Chen (The Silent Forest), Rima Zeidan (Missing Johnny), JC Lin (HBO Asia Original Series The World Between Us, A Day To Choose), and Bai Runyin (Dear Tenant), as well as Romeo Tan (Soul Old Yet So Young) and Aileen Tan (Hello Ms Driver) from Singapore.
Twisted Strings is written and directed by Golden Horse-nominated director, Huang Xi, who has worked with Hou on films including The Assassin. Huang’s debut film Missing Johnny was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2017 Taipei Film Awards. It is produced by Shao Dong-xu with Yao Hung-I as director of photography, and the film score by Point Hsu and Lim Giong.
Twisted Strings is presented by HBO Asia and Catchplay. It is produced by Catchplay’s newly established production arm, Screenworks Asia, in partnership with Taiwan’s Bossdom and Singapore’s Mediacorp.
Other HBO Asia and Catchplay Original Taiwan series such as the crime drama series Trinity of Shadows and the Golden Bell-winning series The World Between Us are also available to stream on HBO GO and Catchplay+.