logline
In life, people tend to appreciate things
only when it's too late. The same goes in death...
Stuck in the Rift, a limbo that exists after death, two women develop a reluctant friendship as they navigate the afterlife. Burdened by their empty hopes and past regrets, they embark on a trip through the Rift's surreal, ever changing landscape of memories and, in dying, come to understand what it means to live.
synopsis
Routine-obsessed Lin’s life in the Rift takes a turn when Eshana, headstrong and ambitious, arrives in the afterlife and barges into her home. When Eshana runs off with the Token that grants Lin’s Ascendence, Lin is forced on a journey far beyond the walls of her shophouse in pursuit of what’s hers. After Eshana raises a deal to return Lin's token after Lin helps her gain a token for herself, Lin agrees to join Eshana on her journey towards the Ascension grounds. As they venture deeper into the Rift, the two are taken on a track of a lifetime as they encounter pockets of memories challenging their deepest fears and are forced to confront their most vulnerable moments.
Ascension is a one way journey to "the great beyond"
Tokens appear to people when...
In order to ascend, one must possess a token.
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They manage to come to terms with their past life
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They are in need of a nudge in the right direction after staying in the Rift for too long.
characters
LIN(71)
Having died at the age of seventy-one, Lin spent all of her life taking care of her Wai Po and their bakery, never allowing herself to take the opportunity to discover her own purpose beyond the life that she’s built around her family. Upon entering the Rift, she encounters and clings onto a replica of her old shophouse, a manifestation of the life she once lived. Over time, she begins to use the old routine she had, from when she was still alive, as a crutch, refusing to deviate from the very thing that gives her a false sense of security. Stubborn, unadventurous, and terrified of change, Lin can only use her old routine as a crutch for so long before she is forced to face the inevitability of moving on.
ESHANA(22
Eshana died when she was twenty-two. Growing up, she’d always known that she was meant for something big and dreamt of leaving a mark on the world somehow. However, this ideology fell through when she got diagnosed with metastatic sarcoma at 20. In death, she mourns the experiences she missed out on had her life not been cut short. Headstrong and feisty, she arrives in the Rift frustrated, coming to the realisation that she lived only to die during her time on earth, and is now made a mockery of by being made to look back on her life after having died. Freshly dead and feeling like her life was just one big joke, Eshana makes it a point to leave the Rift as soon as she can.
series arc
Lin and Eshana's dynamic comes through as they bond over their mutual connection to the shophouse, and later on, when they traverse the Rift, peering into various parts of each other's lives and helping one another appreciate the things that they may have taken for granted.
In the last episode, the series ends exactly where it started - in Lin and Eshana’s shophouse. After experiencing the final trials of the Rift, it is revealed that only Lin was granted passage to go ahead with Ascension. Lin looks back at Eshana, realising that she had not passed through. In the end, content with staying behind to reflect on her life in her own time, Eshana waves goodbye to Lin, who Ascends to the great unknown.
writer's note
The Rift is a Singaporean tale of friendship between two wildly different women. It’s a story that discusses the complex feelings many have surrounding death while shedding light on the little joys that come with living. Presented in a palatable narrative for all ages, THE RIFT is a manifestation of all the “what ifs”, qualms and melancholy associated with death and living. However, at the heart of this profound television series are the themes of human connection and reevaluating what it means to live.
After watching this series, I hope to leave viewers with a sense of peace in knowing that their life is whatever they make of it and that no one is ever too far behind in finding their purpose in living.
- Chloe Yeo
