Wendy Ide 

Almost Heaven review – inside China’s industry of death

A sometimes amusing but largely weak documentary study of a teenager’s apprenticeship in a huge Chinese funeral home
  
  

Ying Ling gets to grips with the funeral business in Almost Heaven.
Ying Ling gets to grips with the funeral business in Almost Heaven. Photograph: PR Company Handout

A 17-year-old girl learns the ropes in a massive Chinese funeral home, in this slight but sporadically amusing documentary. Ying Ling is our window into a closed world. The industry of death in China is one that comes with rituals, taboos and a slick business model. But, morbidly fascinating as the world is, Ying Ling is not a strong enough character to carry the entire film.

Watch a trailer for Almost Heaven.
 

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