魔奸

 Hamish arrives on the soil of his mother’s birth; she is felt instantly. A shocking car accident rips him apart, shattering his clenched control. A beast broken, he finds himself lost in the world of his long deceased mother. Young teen Evan, also involved in the accident befriends Hamish.The tremors of want and love beneath the stifling soil push to the surface, as he is led by the vitality of the unbridled boy Evan. He experiences the electric eroticism of living, and danger. His rage accelerates to violence, and ultimately his vibrant release.

Raka, a court security officer, and his pregnant wife, Nina, celebrate her success in passing the bar exam. While they have a rare evening of fine dining to savor the moment, their joyous celebration is shattered when Nina is found brutally murdered. The investigation quickly identifies Dika as the prime suspect, leading to his swift arrest. However, with the support of a shrewd and manipulative lawyer, Timo, the trial takes an unexpected turn that Raka could never have anticipated. As the trial spirals towards an unjust outcome, Raka resolves to overturn the corrupt verdict and seek justice for his late wife.

　　Following her mother’s death, manga artist Soriya travels to her ancestral home in Phnom Penh, with hopes of reconnecting with her distant family and using the visit as inspiration for her work. All goes well initially. Renting an apartment in Metta, a rundown Khmer Rouge-era housing complex, her visit to her maternal relatives finds her welcomed with open arms. But Soriya’s waking hours in the apartment and its surroundings are punctuated by terrifying, bloody visions, almost as though she were a conduit for horrors of the past wanting to seep into the present.　　Inrasothythep Neth and Sokyou Chea’s blood-chilling psychological horror explores a personal and political past through the present, transforming a characterful space into an insidious environment. Surrounded by modern high-rises, this decrepit structure, with its brutalist architecture and peeling surfaces, is a relic from a dark period in history whose painful memories it has absorbed. In tracing Soriya’s ominous journey back to her roots, Tenement hints at a necessary reckoning with Cambodia’s political past without overplaying its historical dimension. It’s an impressive work from a woefully underrepresented national cinema.