Elephants in the Fog

In a Nepalese village surrounded by lush forests and wild elephants, Pirati (Puspa Thing Lama) is the matriarch of a Kinnar community — a guru-led society populated by third-gender individuals with their own rites and rituals. New members, or daughters, are initiated into their chosen families through a ceremony in which they take a vow of chastity and a commitment of care to each other. These rules, along with her obligations as a mother, complicate things for Pirati, who has fallen in love with a local man (Aashant Sharma) and wishes to run away to Delhi.

Newcomer Aliz Ghimire is memorable as Pirati’s daughter Apsara, an exuberant young woman with a penchant for blonde wigs and partying. When she disappears into the thick of the woods as an act of rebellion, Aspara’s absence is felt by all, which especially sends a surge of protective instinct into Pirati. With tension between tradition and modernity, the film offers kaleidoscopic possibilities of what femininity can look like, and the different constellations of family that can be arranged.

Anchored by sensitive performances from non-actors and exquisitely rendered images of the verdant setting, this fierce but tender debut feature by director-writer Abinash Bikram Shah promises a stirring emotional journey. In the characters’ pursuit of safety and liberation, Elephants in the Fog asks what we owe to our kin, and what it takes to flourish as our fullest, most authentic selves.

ROBYN CITIZEN

Content advisory: violence, sexual content, coarse language