This debut feature from Welsh director Joshua Trigg exudes an unassuming virtuousness from every pore, thanks in no small part to a dignified performance from child actor Itthiphone Sonepho. In the kind of serendipitous road-trip story more often seen in an American context, he plays Laotian orphan Satu, whisked off from the Buddhist temple that raised him on a quest to find his mother by urban runaway Bo (Vanthiva Saysana).
Bo, in contrast, is fleeing her family: after her mum’s death, her father has taken to violently abusing her. An aspiring photojournalist, she is looking for a story in order to enter a competition; Satu’s situation, abandoned by his parent (Sonedala Sihavong, seen in flashback) with a letter hinting at her whereabouts in Vietnam, is just the ticket. So when the discovery of unexploded bombs on the temple grounds means it may be evacuated, the pair hit the road on her dirt-bike, with Satu’s pet rabbit Jeobong in a cardboard box.
