9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN (9 วัด สู่สวรรค์) Discovery

The narrative feature debut from Thai filmmaker Sompot Chidgasornpongse finds a family wrestling with Buddhist traditions and practices in this meditative travelogue. In Thai Buddhist tradition, there’s magic in the number nine. So, when middle-aged businessman Sakol learns from a fortune teller that his mother has very little time left to live, he gathers a group of nine family members to make pilgrimage to nine temples in a single day. This practice of “making merit” ensures good fortune for the rest of his mother’s time on this earth. Each temple’s visit requires endowing the monks with gifts and cash, a custom that rankles the younger members of the family who find the whole endeavor out of touch with the modern age. Grandma herself even seems skeptical, too tired to get out of the car after the first few stops. As the day wears on, tensions simmer as it becomes clear that the family have differing opinions on matters of politics, spirituality and relationships until a transcendent solar eclipse puts everything in perspective. Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul is on board as a producer, Chidgasornpongse having served as his assistant director on both TROPICAL MALADY (2004) and MEMORIA (AFI FEST 2021). His influence is certainly felt, but Chidgasornpongse contrasts the grandeur of Buddhist philosophy and architecture with the mundane and quotidian to craft an elegant and ecstatic vision all his own. –Josh Gardner