FEATURED-LIFE+STYLE MOVIES | ‘Becoming Human’ gets a ghost of a chance at the Oscars

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Polen Ly’s Becoming Human arrives in Cambodian cinemas at a moment when the country’s independent film scene is finding a stronger voice. Selected as Cambodia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 99th Academy Awards, the film is an ambitious debut that blends supernatural drama, romance and social observation into a quiet meditation on what it means to be human.

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At the centre of the story is Thida, a guardian spirit inhabiting an old cinema in Battambang. As the building faces demolition, she is confronted with a choice: accept the possibility of rebirth or remain a wandering ghost. Her encounter with Hai, a living man, gradually transforms that abstract spiritual dilemma into something emotional and personal.

What makes Becoming Human compelling is the way Ly uses the supernatural not simply as a genre device but as a lens through which to examine a Cambodia undergoing rapid change. Thida belongs to a disappearing world, while the demolition of the cinema becomes a metaphor for the loss of physical spaces, memories and identities that accompany modernisation.

The abandoned cinema is effective as the film’s emotional and visual anchor. Its empty halls carry the weight of another era, giving the story an atmosphere of melancholy without making nostalgia its sole purpose. Rather than presenting the past as something Cambodia should simply return to, Ly asks what happens when the past is forced to negotiate with the present.

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The relationship between Thida and Hai provides the film with warmth. Played by newcomer Savorn Serak and Piseth Chhun, the two characters develop an understated connection that avoids melodramatic excess. Their bond feels fragile and mysterious, reflecting Thida’s uncertain place between life and death.

Piseth Chhun brings a restrained performance to Hai. His recognition at the Venice Film Festival for White Building established him as one of Cambodia’s most promising actors, and here he demonstrates an ability to communicate vulnerability without relying heavily on dialogue.

Savorn Serak, meanwhile, makes an intriguing feature-film debut. As Thida, she inhabits a character who is simultaneously otherworldly and emotionally inexperienced. Her dance background complements the role, giving the character a physical quality that communicates her unease and curiosity.

Ly’s filmmaking is strengthened by the team behind the camera. Cinematographer Son Doan provides Battambang an appropriately dreamlike presence, while editor Kavich Neang brings a sensitivity to rhythm that allows the film to linger on spaces and faces. The sound work, completed at Kongchak Studio in Phnom Penh, contributes to the film’s atmosphere.

Yet Becoming Human is not without its demands on the audience. Its measured pace and contemplative storytelling may frustrate viewers expecting a conventional ghost story or romance. The film is less interested in explaining its supernatural world than in allowing audiences to experience its uncertainty, leaving some emotional developments unresolved.

That ambiguity is part of its appeal. Becoming Human asks questions rather than providing easy answers: What makes someone human? Is being alive enough? Can a place retain the memories of those who once belonged to it? And when a society changes, what happens to the people and stories that cannot move with it?

The film’s Oscar selection gives those questions additional significance. Made on a micro-budget with a small Cambodian crew, Becoming Human demonstrates that independent cinema does not need enormous resources to tell a story with international resonance. Its success at festivals, including awards at the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival and a Best Actor prize for Chhun in Rome, suggests that its intimate approach can travel well beyond Cambodia.

More importantly, the film represents the continuing maturation of Khmer cinema. Cambodia’s film industry has long carried the burden of history, with filmmakers frequently expected to tell stories about the country’s past. Ly instead looks at contemporary Cambodia through ghosts, romance and disappearing architecture. The result is a film that feels rooted in place without being confined by it.

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Becoming Human may not be a film for audiences seeking fast-moving supernatural thrills. It is quieter, stranger and more reflective than that. But beneath its ghost story lies something recognisably human: the fear of disappearing, the desire to connect and the difficult question of whether moving forward means leaving something behind.