19/05/2026 - CANNES 2026: Following in the wake of a family on a mystical odyssey riddled with complications, Sompot Chidgasornpongse offers up a highly sophisticated feature film about the ritualised ties of life

Sompot Songkampol and Jirawut Chiwaruck in 9 Temples to Heaven

"Pour this water on the trees outside and I’ll wish you a safe journey to the other temples." A highly unusual family-oriented road movie which is as sharp as a razor, as light as a feather, and which takes place on a very special day, and a spiritual quest hampered by the limits of reality, form the focus of the brilliant first feature by Thai director Sompot Chidgasornpongse (faithful assistant director to Apichatpong Weerasethakul), entitled 9 Temples to Heaven, which was unveiled in the 79th Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight. It’s a methodical work crafted with great patience and based around a surprising premise: a man bas been warned that his elderly mother will die if she doesn’t complete a consecutive tour of the ceremonies, prayers and associated offerings taking place in nine different temples. As a result, the entire family is called upon to accompany her on her journey.

"The mind and body have a deep connection, but following the mind isn’t easy: it moves quickly." Nine characters hailing from three different generations and split between two cars (with a few seat swaps en route), who have varying reasons for agreeing to this trip, subsequently escort the grandmother (Amara Ramnarong) from one consultation with a venerable being to another, under the aegis of her eldest son, Sakol (Surachai Ningsanond), whose own son, thirty-something Tor (Sompot Songkampol) - who’s brought his girlfriend (Yada Karnjanisakorn) along for the ride - is the least enthusiastic of the entire party. And the grandmother soon grows tired. "But we can’t keep Buddha waiting"…

Fleeting recollections of memories in an ever-changing world, little asides revealing snippets of their (laborious) lives, a real-time meditation on the prospect of death, religious traditions (including its mercantile sides) in impressive natural surrounds… The film flows at its own pace, like the river of life, capturing the reactions of its protagonists who are as trapped in their mission as the grandmother by her physical form. But a subtle sense of irony pervades this work, which eschews drama to instead focus on unpicking family ties by homing in on the smaller details, foregrounding nature (the sky, various animals, etc.) and gently hinting at passage into the afterlife. Playing with an extremely diverse and masterfully employed mise en scène palette (notably in relation to all things off-camera), and wonderfully lit by French director of photography Jonathan Ricquebourg, 9 Temples to Heaven reveals a ready-made high-calibre filmmaker, although his deep dive into turmoil and clarity does require a degree of open-mindedness.

9 Temples to Heaven was produced by Thai firms Kick the Machine Films and At A Time, in co-production with E&W Films (Singapore), petit chaos (France) and Needle in the Haystack (Norway). Playtime are steering world sales.

(Translated from French)