Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023) review

Video editor Thiện (Lê Phong Vũ) is informed his sister-in-law was killed in a motorbike accident and has to take care of her son Đạo (Nguyễn Thịnh) and plan her funeral arrangements, he speaks with a wide variety of people (including a war vet as well as several nuns), his girlfriend Thảo (Nguyễn Thị Trúc Quỳnh) is having second thoughts about their relationship and then he takes a long trip to visit his older brother, with his own bike breaking down along the way.  There's nothing wrong with asking the Big Questions regarding existence and religion - and wondering whether or not "death" is final and there's no possibility for "eternal life" "promised" by Catholicism - but it has to be done in a less superficial manner: director Phạm fills his feature debut with religious icons, church ceremonies, a recreation of Caravaggio's painting The Incredulity of Saint Thomas and prayers as well as "discussions" surrounding faith and the soul, but it's rather banal and feels "tacked on" instead of properly incorporated into a rewarding narrative.  In fact, where the film excels is in its remarkable cinematography (by Đinh Duy Hưng) of an especially moody Vietnam - Thiện has a massage during a rainstorm, a bat suddenly appears at the least opportune time, roosters fight with each other, there's a memorably foggy drive through town and a self-baptism to conclude it - and it makes me wonder if filmmaker not-so-secretly privileges the human experience over any kind of spiritual one.  Maybe Belinda Carlisle was right after all....