Joined by the ghost of his deceased wife and the spirit of his long-lost son, a terminally ill Thai man spends a quiet weekend with his sister-in-law at a rural property in this highly unusual movie from Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film opens with a striking nighttime scene in which the protagonist recalls a former life as an ox, observed by a creature with glowing red eyes. Contrary to the title though, the vast majority of the film is not concerned with Boonmee recalling past lives but rather his contentment at spending his last few days with the wife and son he once cherished. The majority of the movie is also set in the daytime, which feels like a misstep given how atmospheric all the dusk, twilight and evening scenes are. The wife and son though are the oddest bits here and their inexplicable appearances as he approaches death never quite gels. The film feels like a comedy at times with the way one character jumps when the wife suddenly appears, only for a hardly phased Boonmee to offer her a drink moments later. It is also hard to know whether to laugh when the son announces that he has become a monkey ghost after mating with such a creature and both the son and subsequent monkey spirits are more enchanting when viewed at a distance. More could be said, but suffice to say that while the film has some beautiful images (the underwater moments are divine) and thought-provoking dialogue ("ghosts aren't attached to places but people"), this is such a quizzical movie with such an unclear narrative that its magic may get lost on those wishing to decipher it.
