Laos, 1978: Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old medical doctor, has unwillingly been appointed the national coroner of the new socialist Laos. His lab is underfunded, his boss is incompetent, and his support staff is quirky, to say the least. But Siri’s sense of humor gets him through his often frustrating days. When the body of the wife of a prominent politician comes through his morgue, Siri has reason to suspect the woman has been murdered. To...

National Coroner Dr. Siri is kidnapped by Hmong villagers who want him to lift a curse from the headman's daughter.

When a blind dentist is run over by a truck, Dr. Siri Paiboun, the reluctant national coroner of Laos, suspects that this was no traffic accident. A coded message written in invisible ink is recovered from the dentist's body, and Dr. Siri begins to follow clues that hint at deep--and dangerous--political intrigue. Dr. Siri only intended to investigate a murder; is he now being drawn into an insurrection? Will he, as a fortune teller predicts, betray...

Coroner Siri Paiboun must identify a corpse found near the mansion of the new Laotian president, an investigation which includes communication with the dead, sacrificial rituals, a marriage proposal, and strange disco music that only the doctor can hear.

Contains original footage of the "secret war" in Laos that involved more than 30,000 Hmong troops for 15 years.

Contains news footage of war and political events which took place during the Laotian Civil War from 1960-1974.