9 Temples to Heaven (2026) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: for each new temple we visit, of course
Take a Drink: for admonitions
Take a Drink: whenever Grandma shows a bit of sass
Take a Drink: whenever Grandma clearly needs a rest
Do a Shot: for surprisingly horrifying Buddhist iconography
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
While Apichatpong Weerasethakul remains the only Thai filmmaker to take the Palme D’or, he’s doing his part to nurture the next generation of Thai filmmakers as producer.
9 Temples to Heaven follows a three generation Thai family as they attempt to visit nine temples in a single day to secure blessings for their ailing grandmother and mother at the advice of a fortuneteller, who assures them it will prolong her life (whether she likes it or not).
A Toast
9 Temples to Heaven comes from Weerasethakul’s longtime assistant director Sompot Chidgasornpongse, who sets a gently observational tone from the beginning. While this is his first fiction feature, he’s directed documentaries before, and incorporates the techniques he learned there well in this lifelike drama.
As the family traverses the town and at least some of its various templates, we get to experience a variety of Buddhist customs and blessings, from the calm and spiritual to others that are a bit more martial or even some with an inescapably commercial aspect- blessings don’t come free.
Perhaps one can detect a light yet unmistakably critical tone from Chidgasornpongse here, and he’s not averse to a health dose of lifelike humor between Grandma’s intransigence and the variable quality of the various monks’ advice and approach, especially as it butts up against the concerns of modern life.
As we the day lengthens and our characters become understandably weary, some familial and intergenerational tensions arise, especially as it becomes clear Grandma isn’t as invested in making it to 9 temples today (or even the intended outcome of an extended lifespan) as her children are, and the grandchildren take up her cause. Who hasn’t reached their limit at a family event and searched out an unlikely alliance or two in order to escape?
Beer Two
To properly enjoy this film, you may well need an appetite for Zen yourself. It’s long and quiet, following it’s own unique rhythm, but that’s also the unique joy it provides.
Verdict
9 Temples to Heaven is a cinema verité slice of Thai life shot in a delightfully matter of fact manner befitting a documentarian.
