Ghostly superstitions unearth the unspoken grief of a young woman suffering from a debilitating heart ailment. Paired with the subservience expected of her of male authority figures (from a protective father to a too-charming doctor), the path to freedom from a sheltered life draws her ever-closer to the world of shadows. While low-budget in execution – this is the first-ever Laotian horror film, after all – Chanthaly succeeds at being suffocating, akin to MDL's Kisapmata, in a house where certain rules control one's life. A promising start for Laos!
