茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS
茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS

[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Neither Leaving nor Staying: The Limbo of KEFF’s Taipei Suicide Story” by Anna Moon

KEFF (director). Taipei Suicide Story 安眠旅舍, 2020. 45 min.

KEFF showed us a room with three people wearing transparent coveralls with hoods and white masks. One of them struck a gong, and the other two bowed to a dead body wrapped in white cloth. They were cleaners.

The director then established the story through casual conversations among the staff, with dead bodies surrounding them. It was normal for them, apathetically taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells associated with overdoses, hanging, and charcoal burning.

The film was simply about the short-lived interaction between Zhi Hao, the hotel’s receptionist, and an unnamed guest overstaying in Room 602.

“I didn’t need to die, but I still didn’t want to live, so I just stayed here. I didn’t know what else to do,” the young woman told Zhi Hao, explaining why she could not leave one way or another.

She said she had thought the place would be depressing. Instead, she found peace in it because, for the first time in her life, she did not feel alone.

Zhi Hao answered that it was unfair to everyone else who had been waiting for months for their turn, as the hotel permitted only a one-night stay. He allowed her one last night and told her that if she was not gone by morning, he would call the police.

The whole film emulated the young woman’s movements, slow and resigned. She moved with slumped shoulders, as though feeling sorry for how everything had turned out.

I felt the weakness and softness of her heart. I watched the pained smile of someone who had tried. She was still empathetic. She looked at him, wanting to listen to his story instead of telling hers. She was simply lost, along with her youth and the light in her eyes.

“At least you don’t expect anything from the world so you can never feel disappointed.”

Numerous lines made me pause and drift.

“I’m tired. I’m always tired now,” she said.

I felt that.

Taipei Suicide Story is one of the most straightforward films I have ever seen. It did not leave me guessing, but it left me thinking and feeling that things could have been different. Moments of silence were perfectly executed. The setting, the expressions, the ironies, the music quietly slipping in, and the simplicity of it all left a mark on me. Forty-three minutes and five seconds without a single second wasted. The ending left my mouth and heart open, making me feel vulnerable. Frankly, it was like medicine without a sugar coating: bitter.

^{How to cite: Moon, Anna. “Neither Leaving nor Staying: The Limbo of KEFF’s Taipei Suicide Story.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 4 Sept. 2026, chajournal.com/2026/09/04/taipei-story.}

Anna Moon was born in a small and historic town in the Philippines. Growing up, she was fascinated by languages, traditions, and cultures, which led her to a lifelong journey of traveling the world and beyond. She currently resides in Manila, where she works as a Korean Research Associate and co-owns a furniture company with a friend. [All contributions by Anna Moon.]