Cemetery of Splendor

Weerasethakul returned to his hometown in Isan Province for this suitably mesmeric cine-poem on magic, history, and dreams. In a former school built on an ancient cemetery, a group of soldiers slumbers quietly, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness. Here a psychic serves as a communicator between the wakeful and the entranced (“What color does he want the kitchen painted?,” one wife asks), and a volunteer shares a meal with two women, who reveal themselves as ancient goddesses. “People are not only living in an everyday life world,” Weerasethakul explained, “but a spiritual world as well.” “Like dreaming with your eyes open” (Hollywood Reporter).

—Jason Sanders

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