Devils on the Doorstep

Comedy to carnage, in one remote village.

A darkly comedic wartime drama that pivots from absurdist humor about coexistence to moral reckoning, exploring how ordinary people navigate impossible circumstances under occupation.

During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant's home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to interrogate the prisoners. The townspeople then struggle to accommodate the prisoners. One is a bellicose Japanese nationalist, the other a nervous translator. Will the townspeople manage to keep the prisoners until the New Year?