This review may contain spoilers
Less Haunting, More Life—and a Little Bit of the Afterlife
I didn’t watch the first movie, so I’m going in blindly.
The movie started with an accident involving a white truck and a motorcycle. The accident was significant to the later plot but, I'm not going to spoil that. It then transitioned to a small temple where a funeral was being held—for a cat. That’s when I realized it was a comedy-horror. Xiang and Joed were the undertakers for the funeral.
As they were preparing to leave the temple after the funeral, they were approached by a man named Thup, who asked them to help with his wife’s dead body.
They arrived at his house, performed a ritual, and placed the body in a coffin. The family members would keep vigil for three days. Thup asked Xiang and Joed to stay for the night because he had no one else. He was so poor that he fed them the food he had prepared as an offering for his wife.
The movie then transitioned to a vigil taking place at a different house. The contrast was huge. The house was filled with visitors, who brought items and food as part of the ritual. Basically, it was like a feast.
An old lady, Grandma Joy, had just arrived home from work. It was late at night. Her grandson, Lod, lectured her while promising to find a job after his baby was born. Grandma Joy lectured him back. The next day, while at work, she passed away.
The family prepared for a vigil, with neighbors, families and friends contributing. Lo and behold, Grandma Joy came back to life. While everyone else fled the place, her grandchildren treated it like a normal day, happy she was still alive.
After three days, Xiang and Joed accompanied Thup to bury his wife. The monk suggested cremation instead. While preparing for the cremation, Xiang and Joed talked about Grandma Joy. They found it unbelievable, like something out of a movie, that a supposedly dead body had come back to life.
Thup was interested in the story and asked for more details, but Xiang brushed him off. Thup then decided to stop the cremation. Since it’s a comedy-horror, you can probably guess what happened next.
Lod sensed that something was off with his grandma. She was “nicer” to them. During an offering to the monks, we could see the suspense building as the monks looked at Grandma Joy.
We got our first ghost scene. Xiang and Joed saw Thup’s wife under a tree. They rushed to tell Thup, but he seemed happy about it.
Thup visited Grandma Joy while her family and friends were asking her for blessings, and asked her what she saw on the day she died.
She told them there were many people. She even saw people she knew. There was also a huge casket and a long line leading to it. The people in the line were divided between two different doors.
They reached another intersection. The left side had fewer people compared to the right. Grandma Joy decided to take the road with many people, where the road ended at a well and they had to jump into it.
Grandma Joy’s journey ended when her soul returned to her body. Thup was happy to hear that.
Thup told Xiang and Joed about Grandma Joy’s story. They both said they believed in karma. Xiang reasoned, “Otherwise, why would every religion teach people to be good?”
All of that happened within the first hour of the movie. The first half focused more on slice-of-life elements, introducing us to the characters while showing us the contrast between Thup and Grandma Joy. The former without anyone while the later, surrounded with people.
The second half was where the horror kicked in. It wasn’t really about being haunted, though. It leaned more towards slice-of-life rather than horror. One part about embracing death while the other part about letting go. And sometimes, everything doesn't always go our way even how well we planned it.
It's not a perfect movie, but it made me think. So, it worth something.
The movie started with an accident involving a white truck and a motorcycle. The accident was significant to the later plot but, I'm not going to spoil that. It then transitioned to a small temple where a funeral was being held—for a cat. That’s when I realized it was a comedy-horror. Xiang and Joed were the undertakers for the funeral.
As they were preparing to leave the temple after the funeral, they were approached by a man named Thup, who asked them to help with his wife’s dead body.
They arrived at his house, performed a ritual, and placed the body in a coffin. The family members would keep vigil for three days. Thup asked Xiang and Joed to stay for the night because he had no one else. He was so poor that he fed them the food he had prepared as an offering for his wife.
The movie then transitioned to a vigil taking place at a different house. The contrast was huge. The house was filled with visitors, who brought items and food as part of the ritual. Basically, it was like a feast.
An old lady, Grandma Joy, had just arrived home from work. It was late at night. Her grandson, Lod, lectured her while promising to find a job after his baby was born. Grandma Joy lectured him back. The next day, while at work, she passed away.
The family prepared for a vigil, with neighbors, families and friends contributing. Lo and behold, Grandma Joy came back to life. While everyone else fled the place, her grandchildren treated it like a normal day, happy she was still alive.
After three days, Xiang and Joed accompanied Thup to bury his wife. The monk suggested cremation instead. While preparing for the cremation, Xiang and Joed talked about Grandma Joy. They found it unbelievable, like something out of a movie, that a supposedly dead body had come back to life.
Thup was interested in the story and asked for more details, but Xiang brushed him off. Thup then decided to stop the cremation. Since it’s a comedy-horror, you can probably guess what happened next.
Lod sensed that something was off with his grandma. She was “nicer” to them. During an offering to the monks, we could see the suspense building as the monks looked at Grandma Joy.
We got our first ghost scene. Xiang and Joed saw Thup’s wife under a tree. They rushed to tell Thup, but he seemed happy about it.
Thup visited Grandma Joy while her family and friends were asking her for blessings, and asked her what she saw on the day she died.
She told them there were many people. She even saw people she knew. There was also a huge casket and a long line leading to it. The people in the line were divided between two different doors.
They reached another intersection. The left side had fewer people compared to the right. Grandma Joy decided to take the road with many people, where the road ended at a well and they had to jump into it.
Grandma Joy’s journey ended when her soul returned to her body. Thup was happy to hear that.
Thup told Xiang and Joed about Grandma Joy’s story. They both said they believed in karma. Xiang reasoned, “Otherwise, why would every religion teach people to be good?”
All of that happened within the first hour of the movie. The first half focused more on slice-of-life elements, introducing us to the characters while showing us the contrast between Thup and Grandma Joy. The former without anyone while the later, surrounded with people.
The second half was where the horror kicked in. It wasn’t really about being haunted, though. It leaned more towards slice-of-life rather than horror. One part about embracing death while the other part about letting go. And sometimes, everything doesn't always go our way even how well we planned it.
It's not a perfect movie, but it made me think. So, it worth something.
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