Marry My Dead Body

Marry My Dead Body (Chinese: 關於我和鬼變成家人的那件事) is a 2022 Taiwanese film that blends supernatural comedy, mystery, and romance. Directed by Cheng Wei-hao, it stars Greg Hsu, Austin Lin, and Gingle Wang. The story weaves together a police detective plot, a traditional Chinese ghost marriage custom, and a romance between a living man and a ghost. The movie first screened at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival on 17 November 2022, then hit theaters in Taiwan on 10 February 2023. Taiwan submitted it for consideration for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

The plot follows Wu Ming-han (Greg Hsu), a homophobic and ghost-phobic policeman in the vice department. While gathering evidence at a car crash linked to his case, he accidentally picks up a red envelope—a trick used to force someone into a ghost marriage. This summons the ghost of Mao Mao (Austin Lin), a man who died in an accident just as he was discussing marriage with his boyfriend. Mao Mao’s grandmother (Wang Man-Chiao), saddened that her grandson died unmarried, arranges the ghost marriage and convinces Ming-han to wed her unseen grandson. After a string of bad luck, Ming-han agrees. To his shock, Mao Mao’s ghost is real. The taoist who performed the ritual explains the ghost marriage and that Ming-han must help Mao Mao resolve his unfinished business to be free of him.

Unhappy about being married to a man, Ming-han tries to escape the marriage but fails. With Mao Mao’s ghost tagging along, he teams up with fellow policewoman Lin Tzu-ching (Gingle Wang) to investigate a major case. Ming-han makes a key breakthrough, but gets pulled off the case when he can’t explain how he knows things only Mao Mao could see through his ghostly abilities. After a confrontation with Mao Mao’s ex-boyfriend, the two make peace by a river, and Mao Mao seems to ascend to reincarnation. But he soon returns to warn Ming-han that Lin Tzu-ching is an informant for a local crime gang and plans to flee to Macau. The police, Mao Mao, and Ming-han catch the gang in a shootout. Ming-han confronts his boss, only to realize Mao Mao misheard: Lin Tzu-ching is the real informant, planning to frame them for the crime lord’s murder.

Tzu-ching escapes, leaving her colleagues to fight the rest of the gang. Ming-han is mortally wounded, and Mao Mao possesses drivers to clear the highway for an ambulance.