Dozens of Thai soldiers have fallen ill near theMekong River. A makeshift hospital is set up in an abandoned school to accommodate men perpetually asleep in rows of hospital beds.

Jen volunteers at the sick ward, rubbing them down with curative lotions. One of the soldiers she tends to, Itt, awakens, and they become fast friends. Jen also meets up with Keng, a medium who turned down a job offer by the FBI to use her psychic powers for solving crimes. Keng instead spends her time communicating with the sleeping soldiers in order to help family members cope with this new, lethargic normal. She holds the hand of a bed-ridden man and explains to a concerned mother that he is still “awake,” in a perpetual dream state but wishing for his favorite snacks.

InCemetery of Splendor(2015), there are hints at elements of horror. Laotian ghost princesses visit Jen (Jenjira Pongpas) and explain how the school was the site of wars between kingdoms thousands of years ago. The combat continues in the spirit world. The soldiers’ fates somehow are tied to this conflict.

The real horror story, as depicted in this movie by writer/director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2010'sUncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives), involves the state of decline in this part of Thailand. Young soldiers, typically depicted in films as the strongest, most virile males in a society, are relegated to eternal sleep, their flaccid penises ensconced in tubes which drain urine into a bag. Their souls are being drained away by Thai leaders who died long ago—but still linger in the world of the living. They haunt this battleground-turned-cemetery-turned-school-turned-sickbay, forever revisiting forgotten glories of a splendorous militaristic past.

The camera lingers on a billboard ad: it features a dating service: a 20s-30s Thai woman smiles placidly next to a handsome, middle-aged white man; Thai and European Union flags float beneath their faces. Jen herself is with a 60-something American military veteran whom she met online, a pleasant enough guy who moved to Thailand for her. Yet, she tells Keng (Jarinpattra Rueangram), “I’d rather be with a European man. Americans are poor.” Jen doesn’t come off as a gold-digger, but it’s obvious that the characters endure poverty.

Talk of a fiber-optics company hints at economic revival. However, we learn the company will soon demolish the hospital/school, and there is no clear indication of whether the local Thai people will benefit from this arrangement. In another scene, Jen happens upon a product demonstration session where women sit and listen to a self-proclaimed TV personality extol the virtues of a health balm. This brings to mind American infomercials usually selling snake oil junk and airing during times when one should be asleep.

I was taken byCemetery of Splendor’s gorgeous cinematography and the subtly humorous exchanges between Itt (Banlop Lomnoi) and Jenn, or Jenn and Keng. The film’s languorous pacing, surreal imagery, and strange narrative structure feel dream-like. Who was that man squatting naked in the woods? What was that nasty-looking pink mass that the soldiers were poking at in the harbor? A rotted whale? Or a physical symbol of shared ennui and societal decay? (Am I trying too hard to assign meaning? Are we dealing dream logic? More than likely, yes.)

At night, the soldiers sleep wearing CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) oxygen masks to allow for air to enter their lungs without obstruction; a candy cane-shaped lamp hovers over each soldier and glows (menacingly?) red, then green, then blue, and then yellow. While it feels peaceful, there is also a sense that these men are doomed, that they may not be a part of Thailand’s future.

At one point, Jenn, who follows Keng who is channeling a sleeping Itt(!), proclaims: “I see everything clearly now, Itt. At the heart of the kingdom, other than rice fields, there is nothing.” The future of Thailand is on life support. Or is it?

The men dream. An earth digger, edging ever closer to the school, gouges at the ground. The women wait.

Thai Movie Central Rating

How to Watch the Full Movie (with Thai Audio and English Subtitles)

—Buy the DVD (Region 1).

—Buy the Blu-ray (Region A/1).

—Watch on Amazon (rent/buy for US$3.99 & up).

—Watch on iTunes (rent/buy for US$3.99 & up).

—Also available to watch for Netflix subscribers.

Additional Notes

—Lead actors, Jenjira Pongpas and Banlop Lomnoi, also appeared in many of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's other movies.

—Movie images and video © Kick the Machine, Illuminations Films, and The Match Factory.

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