Inhuma

In his horror short Inhuma, Chi Tran recounts a piece of lore from rural Asia: a tradition in which the living sit with the dead for one night before the body is buried. There’s only one rule: don’t leave the house, or the Inhuma gets in.

The father of Si Wang (Benjamin Ting) lies comatose in a hospital bed, and Si is completing the advance directive paperwork to pull the plug. But just before his father dies, his eyes snap open.

At the funeral, the aunties wail and weep like it’s a competition for most anguished. One auntie tells Si she doesn’t envy the night ahead of him and warns him about the Inhuma, an owl-faced demon. His uncle is far less sympathetic. He knows Si killed his father, and the Inhuma knows it. That night, with the body resting in the family home and the funeral bills piling up, Si finally explodes. His sister (Vy Le) tries to calm him down, but she walks out, leaving Si alone with his father’s corpse and whatever is waiting to get in.

The owl-faced Inhuma demon emerges from the darkness in Inhuma.

“One auntie tells Si she doesn’t envy the night ahead of him and warns him about the Inhuma, an owl-faced demon.”

Inhuma was inspired by the death of writer/director Chi Tran’s grandmother, who was the first Vietnamese female surgeon. Tran got a front-row seat to all the strict traditions and logistical headaches when all the family wanted to do was grieve. It feels more like putting on a show first and grieving later. While the tradition of staying up with the dead is real, Tran brings his own creation: the owl-faced Inhuma.

Inspired by films like Hereditary, Tran effectively weaves together a dark tale of death, grief, and guilt. In answering the question of what the Inhuma is and what it wants, Tran ups the creepy factor of being alone at night with a dead body in the room. That means you’ve got to see Inhuma in a dark theater or alone at home with the lights out. You’ve been warned.

For more information, visit the Inhuma official Instagram page.