21/39
Overall, there’s a lot to like here
Line of Events
Soriya returns to Cambodia to find herself after her mother’s death, and there she finds a family she never knew and an old building full of dark secrets. After the death of her Japanese-Cambodian mother, the manga artist and her boyfriend decide to travel to Cambodia to learn more about her past, but when she encounters strange happenings in the building that hint at something more sinister. the residents must stop it before it spreads. One of the strongest features is a really fun and engaging set-up with a lot of related parts that come together quite well. Starting with her mother’s death under mysterious circumstances.
This setup makes the film that much more entertaining as sinister instincts begin to materialize
Living in a community that he has long since distanced himself from provides the means to strengthen the reason for returning and provide enough background for each other. Since we are aware of the relationship presented and how it affects him, the desire to contact everyone when he arrives to find out the reason is a natural part of their reunion. Furthermore, the presence of community behaviors and rituals seems like the perfect fit to enhance this type of story, appearing in fascinating ways before gradually becoming darker and more disturbing. This creates a wonderful sense of menacing dread the longer they remain in the community, and the increasing danger leads to more tension. With the low-key nature revolving around the benevolent if slightly inappropriate behavior of the community, or simply ritual symbols that have gone unnoticed, this is nice enough to serve the film until it gets to the more open sequences later on.
is left alone in the apartment
One big sequence serves as a strange meal preparation as the gathered family members and others encountered in the community perform what appears to be a ritual ceremony to prepare him for a special occult ritual that soon turns into a ritual. the nightmarish fever dream that he can’t distinguish from the reality of his dreams is quite impressive. It kicks off the rest of the much darker genre of this volume, with several revelations about the visions he experiences, leading to a wild finale where the dark origins of the ceremony are revealed. of bringing new life to the guests' a body that is once again more sober than expected, but still manages to manage some generally chilling imagery and chases overall. This all adds up to a lot to like here, as while there aren’t too many negatives, several issues do arise.
the creepy behavior almost exclusively causes scares
One of the main factors here is the feeling of confusion as there is very little explanation. As the first half is much more creepy and subdued than anything else, there isn’t much of a way to reveal what is going on, preferring to focus on the haunted atmosphere of the building and its ambiance. As a result, almost nothing is revealed about what the community is trying to do, what their rituals entail, or how it is all supposed to be accomplished, so very little is brought to light. Nothing is resolved until the end, so it can be a bit confusing at first to figure out what’s going on. Another downside is that this setup also allows for a rather slow first half, with little to do beyond building a story that pays off at the end, so it takes a while to get that point across.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and language
These are some of the minor drawbacks here.