Critic Rating
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Director
Kim Mordaunt
Cast
Sitthiphon Disamoe,
Loungnam Kaosainam,
Suthep Pongam,
Bunsri Yindi,
Sumrit Warin,
Alice Keohavong
Genre
Drama
Set against the lush backdrop of rural Laos, this spirited drama tells the story of scrappy ten-year-old Ahlo, who yearns to break free from his ill-fated path. After his village is displaced to make way for a massive dam, Ahlo escapes with his father and grandmother through the Laotian outback in search of a new home. Along the way, they come across a rocket festival that offers Ahlo a lucrative but dangerous chance to prove his worth.
The Playlist by Rodrigo Pérez
Mordaunt’s eye indicates a thoughtful filmmaker able to listen to the winds of what a movie needs. Effortlessly natural, his workmanlike craft carries the capacity to keep an ear open to happenstance.
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Watching Ahlo mix his explosives is like watching a Cordon Bleu chef whipping up a stupendous soufflé.
Film.com by Jordan Hoffman
The kid performances are impressive and the subtext of a region still shaking off the effects of a long-ended war gives seed to some much needed discussion.
Village Voice by John Oursler
The Rocket's ample pleasures come from Mordaunt localizing this tested formula rather than trying to reinvent it.
Variety by Ronnie Scheib
Mordaunt previously directed a docu in Laos that featured kids who sold unexploded bombs for scrap metal, and that earlier experience invests this feature’s characters and milieu with an absolute integrity.
Empire by Angie Errigo
A stirring, lushly-constructed celebration of youthful spirit.
Total Film by Simon Kinnear
This strikingly original feelgood fable is artfully balanced between director Kim Mordaunt’s roots in documentary and a spellbinding magic realism.
Slant Magazine by Nick McCarthy
The particulars of Laos's historical conflicts are sometimes only obliquely confronted, but the torrid past of covered-up wars palpably echoes through the scarred yet majestic landscapes.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
What gives this movie its sting is that, despite Mr. Mordaunt’s insistent attempts at uplift, death hovers over this story at every single moment.
NPR by Mark Jenkins
Yes, The Rocket is a sports movie, with an outcome that's easily foreseen. The cultural specifics of this Laos-set tale, however, are far less predictable.
Time Out
Kim Mordaunt’s when-life-gives-you-land-mines tale is light on well-drawn characters, but its performances, especially from the nonprofessional junior members, more than light the fuse for the finale.
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
Young actor Sitthiphon Disamoe helps keep the tale of a can-do kid from becoming too cute.
The Dissolve by Noah Berlatsky
The Rocket is a well-constructed delivery system for sparkly cheer, but it lacks a more substantial payload.
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