SFF Review: The Rocket (Kim Mordaunt, 2013)

Kim Mordaunt’s magnificent drama, The Rocket, screening at the 2013 Sydney Film Festival in the Official Competition, is fresh from winning the Best Narrative Feature, Audience Award and Best Actor (Sitthiphon Disamoe) at the TriBeCa Film Festival. It is an optimistic and spirited tale of a young man’s personal journey to alter his destiny.

The story of The Rocket follows Ahlo (Disamoe), a ten-year old boy whose family are forced to relocate after an Australian energy company announces the construction of a dam set to flood their area. Considered bad luck in the traditions of the family as he is delivered into the world preceding a stillborn twin, Ahlo finds himself the blame for the string of misfortunes that fall upon the family.

After a tragic accident and the forging of a friendship with a young girl, Kia (Loungnam Kaosainam), and her outcast uncle, Purple (Thep Phongam), Ahlo’s father (Sumrit Warin) begins to believe that the prophecy is true. Ahlo must prove his worth to his family as they come to terms with the economic change that threaten their livelihood, with their future reliant on the most unlikely of events.

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