Synopsis (From The Coffin Official Website)
Inspired by a true Thai ritual of lying in coffins to get rid of bad luck and prolong life, The Coffin is a supernatural thriller about a young man and a young woman who decide to go through the ritual in Thailand.
Chris, a claustrophobic architect does it in the hope of saving his fiancée who's dying of terminal cancer. Sue, a nutritionist visiting Thailand from Hong Kong does it to save her own life after being diagnosed with a lethal brain tumor - one week before her wedding.
After the ritual, Chris and Sue experience what appear to be miracles in their respective lives. But soon, they find themselves confronted by a series of bizarre and terrifying incidents. With the help of a professor specializing in paranormal cases associated with the ritual, they set out to exorcise the ghosts that haunt them, and attempt to reverse
the wheel of karma.
Thrilling, mysterious and ultimately moving, The Coffin is a spine-chilling horror about the beauty of life and death, and coming to face to face with living and dying. The Coffin was shot in Bangkok and five other provinces across Thailand. Filming locations include a 100-yea
r-old Thai temple, an ancient meditation cave, actual cemeteries and inside active crematorium chambers.
The true Coffin Ritual that inspired the film (From The Coffin Official Website):
Writer/Director Ekachai Uekrongtham was inspired to make
The Coffin after hearing about a mass funeral for the living where thousands of people turned up at a North Eastern temple in Thailand to lie in coffins and went through the ritual.
Referred to in Thailand as "Non Loeng Sadorcro" which
literally means Lie in Coffin, Rid of Bad Luck, this controversial ritual has been around for decades but in the last few years, it has become increasingly popular.
The ritual involves participants lying in coffins while a group of monks perform death rites on them as if the participants are already dead. This is then followed by a chant of new life.
Many participants had said they felt as if they were reborn after the ritual - with all their bad karma buried behind them. Some reported that they felt the ritual helped fool the spirts that they're already dead so they could start their new lives afresh like newborns. There are also others who claimed they've met spirits of their dead loved ones while lying in the coffins.
However, this "death rite for the living' is not without its detractors. Some brand it as an occult practice while many feel it's a bad omen to lie in coffins when they're still alive. Some went as far as saying that this ritual is nothing but a case of commercialism entering the sacred religious domain.
The criticisms, however, have not stopped more and more Thai people to voluntarily go through this "death ritual for the living'. However, this "death rite for the living' is not without its detractors. Some brand it as an occult practice while many feel it's a bad omen to lie in coffins when they're still alive. Some went as far as saying that this ritual is nothing but a case of commercialism entering the sacred religious domain. The criticisms, however, have not stopped more and more Thai people to voluntarily go through this "death ritual for the living'.
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