“As a portrait of the diverging roles of Buddhism in the lives of different generations of Thais, 9 Temples to Heaven is excellent.”

“It’s sinful to keep the Buddha waiting.”

In Thailand the number 9 is considered the most auspicious number. The reason for this belief is linguistic: its pronunciation sounds a lot like ‘kao’, the Thai word for ‘progress’ or ‘moving forward’. However simple and down to earth this explanation might be, many Thais believe that visiting nine temples in the span of a day leads to an increased karma and a longer life. Like with most other religions, the actual belief that all of this is ordained by something outside of our plane of reality is dwindling among younger generations of Thais. They are nominally still Buddhist, but practice it more as a way of living a better life than anything else. The tension between this Buddhist modernism and the classic adherence to religion of their parents and grandparents is at the heart of Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s debut feature 9 Temples to Heaven, a sometimes amusing but overly long look at the clash between religious practices and practicalities.

After receiving a disturbing prophecy about his mother, and on advice of his boss’s dad, Sakol decides that he and his family, including the doomed mom, should do a round of merit-making to nine temples within one day in order to prolong the matriarch’s life. Not everyone is enthusiastic about the idea; one of his sons in particular shows disdain for all the rituals that the family has to go through at every temple; even his wife, a Catholic, shows more interest in the proceedings. As the family goes through the motions at each spot, making donations and chanting the same prayers, the mother for whom they do all this gets increasingly tired, to the point where she just stays in the car after three temples. Not to worry, says one of the monks, making merit for someone while they aren’t present is totally fine, highlighting the pragmatism of Buddhism. But mom’s absence raises the question: should we go on? Each family member will have a different answer, and some even surprise themselves.

Bookended by two scenes showing the preparations for the mother’s funeral, and then the actual funeral itself, is a gentle and rather funny nod to the whole merit-making trip not working. But did it not work simply because it’s an act of false hope based on religious beliefs, or because the execution of it faltered? It is hard to say, and probably comes down to one’s own view of religious practices like this. Yet while most of 9 Temples to Heaven is shot in a pretty straightforward style without much visual adornment, one moment of movie magic by Chidgasornpongse at least suggests there is something outside of this realm at play. About two-thirds into the film a solar eclipse of sorts happens, when a dark cloud blocks out the sun and the screen turns almost black for a couple of minutes. Once it clears up things start heading south for the family. So what was this? In true Thai mystique fashion (a sign that as former AD on a number of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s films the director has picked up some things), the nature of this event is never made clear, nor is it discussed. It is a stunning moment that gives the film a much-needed shot in the arm. Still, 9 Temples to Heaven‘s main problem is its length. No matter how much Chidgasornpongse tries to keep the story moving by introducing monks of various states of seriousness regarding the rituals, from those chastising family members for not meditating enough to those too preoccupied to give the family much of their time, or those who blatantly ask for donations, by the time the family reaches the fourth temple you can probably chant the prayers along with them.

What the film highlights best is how much Buddhism is engrained in day-to-day life in Thailand, more so than, say, Catholicism (perhaps that’s why the daughter-in-law is so interested in it), especially when compared to the West. Conversely this also results in a more relaxed mode when it comes to adherence to the ‘rules’. The varied approach of the monks regarding the rituals already makes this clear, but other moments underline the idea as well: in the opening shot we are inside the temple where the ceremony for the deceased mother will be held, and it shows an altar and a battery of ventilators next to it. A group of women sits in front of the ventilators, as if worshipping the cool breeze instead. The practicalities of life supersede religious rules here. This dichotomy is particularly illustrated by the father and his oldest son, and their opposing views of Buddhism.

Chidgasornpongse uses space very well, focusing as much on the architecture and beauty of the temples as he does on the family. He lets the camera glide over brightly painted tableaux on the walls (scaffolding and buckets of paint in one of the temples provide another practical, down-to-earth nod), while the family moves in and out of the frame. This focus on the rituals and immersion in the spaces where they are performed makes for a very lived-in experience and represents the main appeal of the film. But at two hours and twenty minutes, the film is simply too long to sustain interest. The family dynamics are thinly drawn outside of the main father-son conflict, and half the family might as well not be there for how little characterization some of them get. If the intention was to let us feel the arduous nature of having to visit nine temples in one day, then the film succeeded, but at some point one loses interest. That said, there are plenty of elements that do work, and as a portrait of the diverging roles of Buddhism in the lives of different generations of Thais, 9 Temples to Heaven is excellent.