China, 1942. The Chinese leaders acting as Japanese puppets are assassinated one after another. In order to catch the “phantom”, the spy within the intelligence sector, the Japanese create a false code and confines the only five people who had access to this code. Each one is individually interrogated with a carrot and a stick, but finding the spy is not easy. The intense psychological warfare between the five agents and intelligence officers climbs to its climax as friendship is tested against the moral duty to sacrifice oneself for the country. The Message is co-directed by Taiwanese Director Chen Kuo-fu who has shown much accomplishment in the film industry, and the young rookie director Gao Qunshu. This war time psychological thriller is all the more absorbing because of the joint efforts of Director Chen, who approaches the film with the audience in mind, and the young director’s bold approach. Where psychological expression is the central theme, this film is certainly more appealing because of the performance of its actors. The entire cast shows exceptional talent in communicating the relationship between each other through words and facial expressions alone in an enclosed space. An especially noteworthy performance is given by Zhou Xin, one of the Four Young Dan Actresses in China, and newcomer Lee Bingbing, who together bring female sensibility to an otherwise masculine war thriller.