# Classmates Minus
**Classmates Minus** (同学麦娜丝) is a 2020 Taiwanese dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Huang Hsin-yao (黄信尧), his second feature after *[The Great Buddha+](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-great-buddha)* (2017). It follows four high school friends, now in their forties in a southern Taiwan town, as they cope with work, marriage, and unfulfilled dreams, with the director himself as an intrusive, wisecracking narrator.[1](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/11/26/2003747610)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Huang Hsin-yao (黄信尧); producer Chung Mong-hong (钟孟宏)[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205) |
| Year / length | 2020; 122 minutes; Mandarin and Taiwanese (Hokkien)[3](https://www.sinema.sg/2021/02/24/film-review-classmates-minus/) |
| Source | Adapted from Huang's 2005 documentary about his high school friends, *Hu Lian San Xiao* (唬烂三小)[4](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/film/fccn57231932/) |
| Main cast | Cheng Jen-shuo, Liu Kuan-ting, Nadow (Lin Na-Dou), Shih Ming-shuai; Chen Yi-wen as Congressman Gao[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/) |
| Release | Taiwan theatrical release 20 November 2020; Netflix worldwide from 20 February 2021[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205) • [6](https://about.netflix.com/zh_cn/news/taiwanese-dark-comedy-film-classmates-minus-set-to-premier-globally-on) |
| Golden Horse Awards (57th, 2020) | Won Best Supporting Actor (Nadow), Best Art Direction, and Audience Choice Award; nine nominations including Best Narrative Feature and Best Director[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/awards/) |
| Ratings | IMDb 7.1/10 (about 2,200 votes); Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 56% from three reviews[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/ratings/) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/classmates_minus) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and characters
The film centers on four high school classmates who still meet at a bubble tea shop to play cards and trade insults, then return to their separate struggles.[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205) Each man is stuck at a different dead end:
- **Dianfeng (Fan Man)**, played by Cheng Jen-shuo, sells insurance. He can do the work but not the office politics, so promotions and raises pass him by; he has saved for a new apartment and faces marriage when his girlfriend becomes pregnant.[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205)
- **Bijie (Blockage)**, played by Liu Kuan-ting, makes paper effigy houses for the dead and claims to see spirits. Caring for his bedridden grandmother, he missed the window for marriage and turns to a matchmaking service.[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205)
- **Guantou (Tin Can)**, played by Nadow, attempted suicide by swallowing pills, survived, and now works at a household registration office, where he meets again the class beauty of his youth, Minus.[10](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/2812)
- **Tianzai (Tom)**, played by Shih Ming-shuai, dreams of directing films but scrapes by shooting odd commercials. Through a connection with a city mayor's promotional videos he meets the scandal-tainted Congressman Gao, who picks the clean-recorded Tom to run for legislator as a stand-in candidate.[11](https://tfai.openmuseum.tw/mdb/mp_film/ffee4b1a0169ad141a01c3d76c6e5049)
The four storylines run in parallel rather than toward a single plot. Reviewers noted the loose structure: the *Taipei Times* judged that Huang makes the four-lead format work, giving each character a distinct, relatable experience, while the *Sinema.SG* review found the film held back by a plodding, low-tension structure even as it ends on an emotional high.[1](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/11/26/2003747610) • [3](https://www.sinema.sg/2021/02/24/film-review-classmates-minus/)
## Origin and title
Huang conceived the film while planning what to make after *The Great Buddha+*, recalling his own high school classmates; he said he had begun to wonder about the lives of old friends and even of strangers stopped beside him at traffic lights.[11](https://tfai.openmuseum.tw/mdb/mp_film/ffee4b1a0169ad141a01c3d76c6e5049) • [12](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202010090062.aspx) The direct source is his 2005 documentary *Hu Lian San Xiao* (唬烂三小), which followed his high school friends; in the feature, the friends' youthful banter has turned into worries, and time has carved class and burdens onto each of them.[4](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/film/fccn57231932/) • [13](https://news.agentm.tw/144029/)
The title carries several meanings. "Minus" (麦娜丝) is the nickname of the woman the characters remember as their school goddess, to whom the film's title was given; it also suggests that life needs subtraction rather than only addition, echoing the "plus" of *The Great Buddha+*, and it refers to the group of classmates being reduced by a death.[14](https://vocus.cc/article/600d5468fd89780001c01d88) • [13](https://news.agentm.tw/144029/)
## Style and narration
Huang plays himself in the film, a director shooting his next project after the success of *The Great Buddha+*, and narrates throughout in a cynical, humorous voice compared by the *Taipei Times* to traditional Taiwanese storytellers, at times breaking the fourth wall to talk with his characters and even entering the frame.[1](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/11/26/2003747610) The opening minute announces that three years have passed since his first feature, shifts from black-and-white to color, and widens the aspect ratio from 1:1.85 to 1:2.35, while the narrator complains about his demanding production company.[3](https://www.sinema.sg/2021/02/24/film-review-classmates-minus/) Huang also points out on the soundtrack that several supporting characters are played by the same actor.[3](https://www.sinema.sg/2021/02/24/film-review-classmates-minus/)
The band LTK Commune, a left-wing pro-independence group, supplies much of the soundtrack and appears in the film as part of an election crew, continuing Huang's practice of featuring iconic Taiwanese musicians.[15](https://newbloommag.net/2020/12/06/review-classmate-minus/)
## Release and reception
*Classmates Minus* premiered as the opening film of the 2020 Golden Horse Film Festival and opened in Taiwanese theaters on 20 November 2020.[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205) At the 57th Golden Horse Awards it received nine nominations, including Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Film Score, and Best Editing, and won three: Best Supporting Actor for Nadow, Best Art Direction, and the Audience Choice Award.[2](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/awards/) Netflix acquired the film and began exclusive worldwide streaming on 20 February 2021; producers Yeh Ju-feng and Chung Mong-hong framed it as a portrait of everyday life, social and economic problems, and midlife crisis seen through a Taiwanese lens.[6](https://about.netflix.com/zh_cn/news/taiwanese-dark-comedy-film-classmates-minus-set-to-premier-globally-on)
Critical response was mixed. The *Taipei Times* praised the balance of biting satire and silly laughs and the fully drawn leads, while noting that the female characters are treated mostly as accessories.[1](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/11/26/2003747610) Common Sense Media's reviewer called the film disappointing and pretentious, criticizing its portrayal of women, while John Serba of Decider called it "a wonderfully bizarre film"; the Tomatometer stood at 56% from three reviews.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/classmates_minus) Brian Hioe, writing in *New Bloom* with an MA in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, judged it a competent second effort that deliberately echoes rough-edged domestic Taiwanese comedy rather than aiming at the international festival circuit.[15](https://newbloommag.net/2020/12/06/review-classmate-minus/) On IMDb the film holds a 7.1/10 rating from about 2,200 users, with the most ratings from [Taiwan, China](https://www.edgepedia.org/taiwan-china), and the United States.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/ratings/)
## References
1. [Movie review: Classmates Minus - Taipei Times](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2020/11/26/2003747610)
2. [同學麥娜絲 Classmates Minus, WOW!SCREEN 電影雜誌](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=19205)
3. [Film Review: 'Classmates Minus', Sinema.SG (Yap Shi Quan, 24 February 2021)](https://www.sinema.sg/2021/02/24/film-review-classmates-minus/)
4. [同學麥娜絲 Classmates Minus, @movies 開眼電影網](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/film/fccn57231932/)
5. [Classmates Minus (2020), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/)
6. [Taiwanese dark comedy film Classmates Minus set to premiere globally on Netflix, About Netflix (21 January 2021)](https://about.netflix.com/zh_cn/news/taiwanese-dark-comedy-film-classmates-minus-set-to-premier-globally-on)
7. [Classmates Minus (2020) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/awards/)
8. [Classmates Minus (2020) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12899858/ratings/)
9. [Classmates Minus, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/classmates_minus)
10. [同學麥娜絲 Classmates Minus, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/2812)
11. [電影｜同學麥娜絲, 台灣影視聽數位博物館](https://tfai.openmuseum.tw/mdb/mp_film/ffee4b1a0169ad141a01c3d76c6e5049)
12. [同學麥娜絲入圍金馬9獎項 黃信堯暢聊靈感來源, 中央社 CNA (9 October 2020)](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202010090062.aspx)
13. [〖神搜專訪〗《同學麥娜絲》黃信堯導演專訪, 電影神搜 (11 November 2020)](https://news.agentm.tw/144029/)
14. [同學麥娜絲 (Classmates Minus), 小謝的沙龍, vocus](https://vocus.cc/article/600d5468fd89780001c01d88)
15. [Review: Classmate Minus (同學麥娜絲), New Bloom Magazine (Brian Hioe, 6 December 2020)](https://newbloommag.net/2020/12/06/review-classmate-minus/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Black comedy and satire films › Released 1998 to 2024*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license