It’s been a big week for GKIDS, hardly surprising as we wind up awards season, and the U.S. studio/distributor has now announced that Another World, the dark fantasy feature that busted Hong Kong box office records last year, will open in North American theaters on June 5 in its original Cantonese with English subtitles.
Directed by first-time helmer Tommy Ng Kai Chung and written and produced by Polly Yeung Po Man, the millennium-spanning drama was spawned from a 14-minute short the team released in 2019 to a strong festival reception. Veteran producer Chan Gin Kai also produced the feature, which is based on Naka Saijo’s novel Sennenki, originally published by Tokuma Shoten.
The film follows Gudo, a Soul Keeper who guides human souls into their next life. After he befriends a young girl named Yuri, he discovers her untimely death has left her cursed by unresolved rage, and her soul now threatens to unleash devastation across both the human and spirit realms. The story is described by the filmmakers as a meditation on forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of hatred and despair.
Another World world premiered at last year’s Annecy as part of the Midnight Specials section, marking the first Hong Kong animated feature invited to Annecy since My Life as McDull more than 20 years prior. That’s also where GKIDS scored the U.S. rights to the film. It went on to become the highest-grossing Hong Kong film of 2025 and the highest-grossing Hong Kong animated film ever, and won Best Animated Feature at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards.