Baan Cult, Muang Cult

In front of us are two small apartments. Two women live in one; in the other, two teenage boys spend time together. In both, the same pervasive sound of Thai state radio is heard, alternating between news items, traditional music, propaganda, and advertising. Suddenly, conversations blossom in parallel. The women talk animatedly about the possible ends of their lives. On the other side, the two boys recall watching the 1993 movie Little Buddha at school, the crush they had on Keanu Reeves in that film, and how one of them became sexually excited thinking about Buddha. Wichaya Artamat is back at the festival with an irreverent take on today’s Thailand, a country where religion, the army, and the monarchy are untouchable pillars of society.

After the success of This Song Father Used to Sing (2019), Artamat returns to naturalistic theatre that employs subtle acting, everyday gestures, and small details. It’s a cinematic style that places us inside two apartments in Bangkok, using satire to go beyond a simple story and express what cannot be expressed openly. With poetry, tenderness, and comedy, Baan Cult, Muang Cult (The Cult of the Home, The One of the Nation) is an unexpected exploration of Thailand’s social structure as a cult.