The Rocket Festival

The Rocket makes the impossible is possible

Review by Jenny Alvarez

The Rocket is set in contemporary Laos and tells the story of a boy named Ahlo (beautifully played by Sitthiphon Disamoe) who is believed to be a bearer of bad luck. Eventually, he is blamed for a string of disasters that kill his mother and deeply affect his community.

When his family loses their home and is forced to move, Ahlo meets the spirited orphan Kia and her eccentric uncle Purple: an ex-soldier with a purple suit, a rice-wine habit and an unbridled love for James Brown.

Struggling to hang onto his father’s trust, Ahlo leads his family, as well as Purple and Kia, through a land scarred by war — in search of a new home.

In a last plea to prove he’s not cursed, and to earn a living for his family, Ahlo builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative (but dangerous) competition of the year: The Rocket Festival. The cast led by two superb child actors with a lovely sense of texture of a culture full of traditions and new life experiences. The most beautiful scene was when the little boy builds a giant rocket to enter the most exciting and dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival but he had to face many obstacles but show us that the dedication, effort and perseverance are important keys to achieving our goals. His father was skeptical and the joy came to their lives with a great surprise and triumph of Ahlo. This film is full of beautiful landscapes and many elements compensate for its predictability.