The Cursed Land

Introduction by Panu Aree and Ananda Everingham

Director Panu Aree, known for his hard-hitting docs on Muslims in Thailand, takes a stab at the country’s beloved folk-horror genre with his spine-chilling narrative feature debut, infusing it with a uniquely insightful ethnic perspective. Ananda Everingham stars as Mit, a man still reeling from his wife’s death, who drags his teenage daughter May (Jennis Oprasert from Thai pop group BNK48) to a tight-knit Muslim community outside of Bangkok for a fresh start. But when Mit, in a fit of belligerent disregard for local superstitions and decorum, strips their creepy new digs of its sacred talismans, he accidentally unleashes the wrath of a seriously pissed-off Djinn. What follows is a terrifying odyssey that blends personal trauma and inherent prejudice toward the ostracized other with the gut-churning machinations of conniving demons hell-bent on snatching innocent yet tortured souls. It’s a monstrous cautionary tale of reckoning and redemption that might leave you sleeping with the lights on.