Curious Tales of a Temple (2025)

7.5/10 152 min Drama Comedy Fantasy Animation

Overview

An epic animated fantasy anthology film intertwining six storylines from China's classic supernatural story collection "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" by Pu Songling. The six stories center on Lanruo Temple, an ancient ruin haunted by spirits. Weaving in classic tales like "Taoist from Laoshan Mountain," "Princess Lotus," "Nie Xiaoqian," "The Painted Skin" and "The Daughter of Magistrate Lu." These stories — spanning humans, ghosts and demons — explore love, death and morality against shifting time. The film merges six distinct styles into one anthology. For example, "Taoist from Laoshan Mountain" uses felt-textured animation, while "The Painted Skin" mirrors Song dynasty painting aesthetics.

Cast

Lu Lifeng

Pu Songling (voice)

Lin Qiang

Ling Chan Shang Ren (voice)

Zhang He

Xuan Gui Zi (voice)

Chen Ziping

Wang Cheng (voice)

Fu Bohan

Dou Xu (voice)

Chen Linling

Lotus Princess (voice)

Liu Xiaoyu

Xiao Qian (voice)

Gu Jiangshan

Ning Caichen (voice)

Yihui Xie

Ms. Chen (voice)

Fu Tingyun

Hua Pi Yao (voice)

Yang Mo

Mr. Wang (voice)

Li Shimeng

Lu Ying (voice)

Sun Lulu

Zhang Yuheng (voice)

Shuren Zhao

Laoshan Taoist (voice)

Xu Jiaqi

Wang Cheng's Wife (voice)

Han Le

Chang'e (voice)

Liu Cong

Pear Seller (voice)

Bai Xuecen

Queen (voice)

Chen Zhe

Old Man (voice)

Li Haojia

Da Xue Shi / Lu Yuan Wai (voice)

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