Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

Released Jan 19

2h 58m

Drama

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for Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell: Trailer 1

List

96%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

75%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Winner of the prestigious Camera d’Or for best first film at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the enthralling Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell from Vietnamese filmmaker Thien An Pham is a reverie on faith, loss, and nature expressed with uncommon invention and depth. It's a simple tale told with visual complexity: after a car accident claims the life of his sister-in-law and leaves his 5-year-old nephew an orphan, a thirtysomething man named Thien (Le Phong Vu) leaves Saigon for a trip back to his rural hometown. During his meditative, wandering visit, Thien wrestles with his own agnosticism in the face of others' religious beliefs, summons memories of his long-disappeared brother, and reconnects with a former girlfriend who now lives as a nun at a Christian church and school. With its drifting camera, evocative use of natural light, and gratifying perambulatory nature, this is a film with the power to readjust one's perceptions of the world around us.

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Critics Consensus

Following its own alluringly inscrutable path between past, present, reality, and dreams, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell rewards patient viewers with an absorbing spiritual odyssey.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

The panoramic intelligence of this film is a wonder.

Rated: 5/5

Mar 5, 2024

Full Review

Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

It's a slow roll, very much about the images, language, thoughts and ideas.

Feb 1, 2024

Full Review

Sergio Burstein

Los Angeles Times

The entire film is marked by the brilliant cinematographic language used by its director and screenwriter Phạm Thiên Ân, who, in his first long-term work, displays an impressive and calm handling of images. [Full review in Spanish]

Jan 30, 2024

Full Review

Chuck Bowen

Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

Thien An mounts compositions that suggest the Vietnamese countryside to be a heavenly, transitional realm. But the characters don’t open up to us, and so the film never becomes more than a technical achievement.

Jul 10, 2024

Full Review

Joshua Polanski

Boston Hassle

There’s not a frame of the movie that’s a bore to look at, even if it requires a good dose of patience to view the scenes collectively.

Jul 5, 2024

Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

Ready comparisons would be to the work of elusive Asian visionaries Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tsai Ming-liang and perhaps the obstinately steady cadences within the body of work of the great Greek Theo Angelopoulos. It’s a most elegant simmer and soak

Rated: 9/10

Jul 2, 2024

Full Review

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David W

Symbolic and beautifully filmed. Be prepared for three hours of meditation on death, loss, and meaninglessness introduced at a snail's pace. The true tragedy of this film is that the quest of the main character is unknown and woefully ambiguous.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/24/24

Full Review

Matt G

Symbolically loaded fare with Terrence Malick vibes - not to compare their work, but just so you have a taste of what you're in for. Gentle, compassionate, beautiful. Something to enjoy alone when in a meditative mood on a quiet night.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/20/24

Full Review

L F

So gorgeous & patient in its contemplation of faith & loss. I wish people realized how much effort and care goes into makes some of these delicate compositions.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/29/24

Full Review

Andy H

This movie is like a Terrence Mailck if you cut the plot and dialog and extend the extended visuals. Wait, you must say, that is not possible. I tell ye, it is possible, as I have witnessed thus with my own eyes. Thus, this is a 3h movie, and would you could it down to 15-20 min, it would still be a slow movie. Several 5 min scenes where all you see is nature, the hillside and nothing else. 5 min of two people looking at each other without talking. 5 min driving along a road, no character in scene. There is a nice 10 min uncut scene, where the guy talks to an old man about life and the war, that is nice. There is no plot, there is no point, there is no wrap, there is just you hanging out with a nice vietnamese guy for 3 hours, a guy that talks very little. You need to be a really artsy movie critic to really like this. I think this might be the directors first movie, so I guess he has to overdo it to get the attention. Now that he has the attention, maybe he could do an actual movie next time. There is talent, but this execution doesn't meet the ambition.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

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Pham Thien An

Director

Le Phong Vu

Thien

Nguyen Thi Truc Quynh

Sister Thao

Nguyen Thinh

Dao

Vu Ngoc Manh

Trung

Pham Thien An

Screenwriter

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Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Winner of the prestigious Camera d’Or for best first film at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the enthralling Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell from Vietnamese filmmaker Thien An Pham is a reverie on faith, loss, and nature expressed with uncommon invention and depth. It's a simple tale told with visual complexity: after a car accident claims the life of his sister-in-law and leaves his 5-year-old nephew an orphan, a thirtysomething man named Thien (Le Phong Vu) leaves Saigon for a trip back to his rural hometown. During his meditative, wandering visit, Thien wrestles with his own agnosticism in the face of others' religious beliefs, summons memories of his long-disappeared brother, and reconnects with a former girlfriend who now lives as a nun at a Christian church and school. With its drifting camera, evocative use of natural light, and gratifying perambulatory nature, this is a film with the power to readjust one's perceptions of the world around us.

Director: Pham Thien An
Producer: Jeremy Chua, Tran Van Thi
Screenwriter: Pham Thien An
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: JK Film, Fasten Films, Potocol, Deuxieme Ligne Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Vietnamese
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 19, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 19, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $75.1K
Runtime: 2h 58m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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