The paper art, known as Zhizha in Mandarin, begins with a simple premise: you can turn paper into anything, such as mansions, cars, even iPads. By burning these offerings for the dead, they are believed to receive them in the afterlife and live happily ever after. But can you really turn paper into anything? From the transformation of raw paper to its final incineration, the film opens a dialogue on life, death, and our material desires.

At Zhenge Paper Art, the owner Lin openly admits he doesn’t believe in an afterlife, nor does he dwell on the spiritual meaning of the trade he’s been in for three decades. Master Jiang, the factory’s most skilled artisan, moonlights as a temple medium, channeling deities to answer people’s questions and finding personal comfort in doing so. Through Zhenge, we also encounter others in the death care ecosystem: a funeral director and Sister Chen, who shares her work through TikTok videos.

The film also introduces a fictional Taiwanese family, cast as performers navigating each artisan’s imagined paper world. Through reenactments and ritual, their journey brings them closer to the unknown, where reality and imagination meet in a fragile world built of paper.