我母亲的朋友

 在德国一座中世纪大学城的植物园中，一棵古老的银杏树静静矗立，见证着三个时代中人与自然之间的深层联结。1908年，大学首位女性学生透过摄影镜头，在植物的微观结构中发现宇宙的神圣秩序；1972年，一位沉默的青年在观察天竺葵的过程中，悄然改变了对世界的感知；2020年，一位来自香港的神经科学家在研究婴儿意识的同时，与这棵树展开一场意想不到的实验。

　　德华（刘德华饰）喜欢打牌，以打牌为生的他出名好牌技好牌品，与他相恋多年的咏琪（梁咏琪饰）因为牌品差，始终没能与德华结为连理，令她顿足。德华的弟弟天乐（古天乐饰）知道哥哥要以打牌为生养活患有痴呆症的母亲和正在读书的自己，决定跟青云（刘青云饰）打牌比试，谁知连连落败。　　一次牌局中，咏琪不甘被德华以牌品的问题多次推搪婚约，便咀咒他从此“一世摸烂牌”，跟着同样拜师不成的青云离开了。　　咀咒真的灵验了，使德华家道中落，但一向乐观的他深信自己的“好朋友”会回来的。在弟弟公司举行的麻将大赛中一路稳打稳扎，与青云再次对垒，最后能否获胜呢？

　　Following her mother’s death, manga artist Soriya travels to her ancestral home in Phnom Penh, with hopes of reconnecting with her distant family and using the visit as inspiration for her work. All goes well initially. Renting an apartment in Metta, a rundown Khmer Rouge-era housing complex, her visit to her maternal relatives finds her welcomed with open arms. But Soriya’s waking hours in the apartment and its surroundings are punctuated by terrifying, bloody visions, almost as though she were a conduit for horrors of the past wanting to seep into the present.　　Inrasothythep Neth and Sokyou Chea’s blood-chilling psychological horror explores a personal and political past through the present, transforming a characterful space into an insidious environment. Surrounded by modern high-rises, this decrepit structure, with its brutalist architecture and peeling surfaces, is a relic from a dark period in history whose painful memories it has absorbed. In tracing Soriya’s ominous journey back to her roots, Tenement hints at a necessary reckoning with Cambodia’s political past without overplaying its historical dimension. It’s an impressive work from a woefully underrepresented national cinema.