The documentary, a genre as old as cinema itself, has traditionally aspired to objectivity. Whether making ethnographic, propagandistic, or educational films, documentarians have pointed the camera outward, drawing as little attention to themselves as possible.

Framed as a (thankfully fictional) documentary, The Medium follows a film crew to a small town in the Isan area of northeastern Thailand, where they meet a shaman named Nim (Sawanee Utoomma).