Final Rating: 4/5
Still Night, Burning House is the debut feature film from acclaimed short film filmmaker Carol Nguyen, whose earlier short films No Crying at the Dinner Table and Nanitic were selected as one of the 10 Best Canadian Short Films in 2019 and 2022 by TIFF (listen to our interview with Nguyen).
Once again Nguyen is looking inwards at family secrets and histories to showcase her unique perspective. Still Night begins with her father, Ngoc Nguyen, narrating over footage shot in rural Vietnam describing the night his brother Thach took his life.
Ngoc went to visit his brother after receiving a distress call that his brother was experiencing a mental health episode. Thach described that his house was on fire and his life was in danger. Ngoc stayed with him and eventually left when Thach’s wife was 15 minutes away, promising that he would go with her to the hospital. Once he was alone, Thach jumped and took his life, likely believing the fire would win out. Ngoc has carried the guilt of his brother’s death ever since.
The film looks at the way Nguyen’s family, and Vietnamese culture, understands schizophrenia, Thach’s official diagnosis. The family, including Thach’s widow and two daughters, go through his extensive medical records and tell stories about who he was and what it was like having to live with someone that had his condition.
The film shifts as the whole extended family travels back to Vietnam, the first time as a collective, to visit the home and neighbourhood that the Nguyen’s lived in. The end goal is to honour his death in the traditional way by burning offerings of money and gifts made of paper for the deceased to use in the afterlife.
The film is incredibly powerful at evoking memories of those we love and have lost, while also confronting the realities of mental health. Nguyen taking such a hard look at her own family, getting them to discuss events they likely have kept private for years makes the film a difficult but cathartic watch.
She juxtaposes conversations with family with quiet long shots of life in Vietnam, especially with how it relates to death. We see several sequences covering a funeral procession, from marching the casket down the streets to arriving at the cemetery and finally the actual burying of the body. It’s beautiful and emotional at the same time.
Carol Nguyen is a powerful filmmaker who understands that silence can speak far more than words can as stories linger in the air as if the spirit of Thach is still present, hopefully in a more peaceful state than the struggles he experienced in life. The imagery is poetic and the conversations are raw, together making a bold combination that will linger with viewers long after the film ends.
Still Night, Burning House was seen during the 2026 Vancouver International Film Festival.
