Cemetery of Splendour

Palme d’Or-winning director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee who can Recall his Past Lives) returns with the surreal and overtly political Cemetery of Splendour.

Soldiers struck by a mysterious sleeping epidemic lie comatose in a temporary clinic. The memory-filled space becomes a revelatory world for housewife and volunteer Jenjira, as she watches over Itt, a handsome soldier with no family visitors. Jen befriends young medium Keng who uses her psychic powers to help loved ones communicate with the comatose men. Doctors explore ways, including coloured light therapy, to ease the mens’ troubled dreams. Jen discovers Itt’s cryptic notebook of strange writings and blueprint sketches. There may be a connection between the soldiers’ enigmatic syndrome and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are all part of Jen’s tender path to a deeper awareness of herself and the world around her.

★★★★★ “A hypnotic masterpiece” – Philip Concannon, The Skinny 

★★★★ “This is slow cinema wound all the way down to a purr, but it’s transporting, profound and unshakeable” – Robbie Collin, The Telegraph 

★★★★ “Teasingly blends the spiritual and the mundane” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian