This ambitious work is part quasi-realist pandemic tale and part meditation on Thai history, society and culture… It doesn’t take long for the various strands to come together, though Aroonpheng does have one shocking twist up his sleeve… In his world, society includes marginalised groups and here he raises them literally to the same plane as the country’s foundational epic,.. Fascinating…

Boyd Van Hoeij - SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

Acres of tropical vegetation are imagined as a deeply political space as well as one where fantastical phenomena arise, which always induce a dark awe, with no tonal preciousness or whimsy to be found... whilst that initial description evokes a lair from a Sean Connery James Bond film, what Aroonpheng devises, as we discover later on, is even more imaginative and uncanny.… As The Burning Giants ends, it’s hard to deny we’ve seen something striking and possessed with a visionary fervour…

David Katz - CINEUROPA


there is a particular characteristic beyond the way time is stretched into an almost spiritual experience: a way of relating to nature as a space that invites mystery and the mystical. This is what makes The Burning Giants distinctive, although it would hardly be fair to say it is its only virtue.. a universal story about relationships of affection, power, and strength within a recognizable socioeconomic context… I like films like this, films that provoke me beyond inertia, that offer questions instead of answers and make me think that cinema can be so much more than what I imagined… The Burning Giants finds its strength in this ability to remain between states: between the real and the fantastic… the narrative’s ambition is laudable in transforming smoke, forest, and disease into traces of a historical violence that insists on remaining visible even when every mechanism of power is working to bury it.

Alessio Zuccari - CINEMATOGRAFO

A stunning plunge into what’s concealed… Recent and mythic past swirl in a mystifying, alluring concoction… A great film proves itself when it can make its grand, unexpected pivot feel fluent and a natural bend… The Burning Giants isn’t afraid of ambition or bold swerves… A deeply moving experience. This incredibly raw, affecting coda dredges up the humanity beneath the violence and displacement. New beginnings are possible, with some courage and willingness…

Dabanjan Dhar - OUTLOOK

A devastating film that gradually takes on an intriguing, mythical quality.… Enhanced by a minimalist, deeply atmospheric sound design, these dual laments become a powerful elegy for the displaced Karen people…. t remains enchanting and heartbreaking – haunted by abuses of power and the loss of a world that once felt sacred.

CLOSE-UP CULTURE