
Followinghermother’sdeath,mangaartistSoriyatravelstoherancestralhomeinPhnomPenh,withhopesofreconnectingwithherdistantfamilyandusingthevisitasinspirationforherwork.Allgoeswellinitially.RentinganapartmentinMetta,arundownKhmerRouge-erahousingcomplex,hervisittohermaternalrelativesfindsherwelcomedwithopenarms.ButSoriya’swakinghoursintheapartmentanditssurroundingsarepunctuatedbyterrifying,bloodyvisions,almostasthoughshewereaconduitforhorrorsofthepastwantingtoseepintothepresent.InrasothythepNethandSokyouChea’sblood-chillingpsychologicalhorrorexploresapersonalandpoliticalpastthroughthepresent,transformingacharacterfulspaceintoaninsidiousenvironment.Surroundedbymodernhigh-rises,thisdecrepitstructure,withitsbrutalistarchitectureandpeelingsurfaces,isarelicfromadarkperiodinhistorywhosepainfulmemoriesithasabsorbed.IntracingSoriya’sominousjourneybacktoherroots,TenementhintsatanecessaryreckoningwithCambodia’spoliticalpastwithoutoverplayingitshistoricaldimension.It’sanimpressiveworkfromawoefullyunderrepresentednationalcinema.
查德·迈克尔·墨瑞,艾米丽·阿琳·林德,凯缇·萨克霍夫,阿比盖尔·斯宾赛