As elsewhere in the world, Covid-19 slowed down film production in Thailand, even though the country coped with the situation better than many others. All films were suspended during three surges of the pandemic in March 2020 and January and April 2021. This worsened the decline of Thai cinema that began a few years ago, and brought about a critical situation.
Only 37 titles were released in 2020, down from 59 the year before. This includes independent movies that were shown in limited releases, with sometimes only two or three screenings per week. All studios cut down their production schedules. M Pictures were the most active with 15 releases, while others were limited to a few titles. Sahamongkol Film released only two films, and GDH 559 and Five Star Production released only one each.
Of the 15 titles that were released by M Pictures, only a few had wide releases. Most of them were limited releases that were targeted at particular territories, especially the northeastern-themed movies. E-Riam Fighting Angel (Prueksa Amaruji) was the top blockbuster of the year, grossing more than 5.60 million euros because it starred one of the country’s most popular actresses. The film tells of a young woman who tries to save her family and herself from a gangster who wants to rape her to gain some powerful black magic.
The studio released two other films that received high praise. Nemesis (Gunparwit Phuwadolwisid) was a psychological thriller about a man accused of murdering his wife. He returns to encounter her relations, who call for justice. The film was produced by Nonzee Nimibutr, and was praised for its plot development and the performance of lead actor Jirayu Tantrakool. M Pictures also released the star-studded picture My God!! Father (Pawat Panangkhasiri), about a man who returns to the past to meet his loving dad. Despite their star power, both films underperformed at the box-office, as they were released during the second half of the year when people stayed away from theatres.
Another M Pictures’ affiliate Tai Major finally released its first feature, My Boss Is a Serial Killer. Tai Major is a joint venture between two movie moguls of the Poolvoraruk family. Wicha Poolvoraruk is the owner of Major Group, the biggest theatre operator in Thailand, and Wisoot Poolvoraruk has initiated a lot of changes to the Thai film industry, including the teen flicks of the 1990s and the quality commercial films of GMMTaiHub in the 2000s. My Boss Is a Serial Killer is a thriller about three female employees who suspect that their good-looking boss might be behind the deaths of their colleagues.
Sahamongkol Film came up with two titles in totally different genres. Mother Gamer is a teen flick about a mother who sets up a rival e-sports team to compete with her son. Director Yangyong Kuru-angkul knows how to play a generational game with fast edits, a lot of colour, and a modern setting. Sahamongkol’s Low Season (directed by Nareubadee Wetchakam) is a horror comedy about a writer who meets a new love during a vacation in which he encounters ghosts.
GDH 559 released only one romantic comedy, The Con-Heartist by Mez Tharatorn, which tells the story of a group of con artists who are trying to take revenge on the ex-boyfriend of a young financier to get her money back. The film was released a few weeks before a surge of Covid-19, but it was successful at the box-office with a take of 2.4 million euros. Part of this was due to the GDH 559 brand name, and its two stars, Nadech Kugimiya and Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul, who performed together for the first time. All-round acting excellence managed to bring audiences into theatres during the unsafe times of the pandemic.
The most talked about Thai movies this year were projects produced by foreign producers. Nattawut Poonpiriya (Countdown, Bad Genius) began his third movie One for the Road by collaborating with Wong Kar Wai, who acted as his producer. The film is about two friends on a road trip, one of whom is going to die from cancer. One for the Road premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Award for Creative Vision in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. It became one of the most sought-after films of the year.
Banjong Pisanthanakun (Shutter, Pee Mak) teamed with South Korean director-turned-producer Na Hong-jin (The Chaser) to create the horror film The Medium – a story about a shaman’s inheritance in the Northeastern region of Thailand. Unlike Poonpiriya’s One for the Road where the whole project was produced from Hong Kong, The Medium is a collaboration between Thai studio GDH559 and South Korean studio Showbox.
One of the big changes in the entertainment business during the pandemic was the rise of the streaming industry in Thailand. Thai films showed up on Netflix quicker than usual – sometimes only a couple of months after their theatrical releases. Some titles streamed without a theatrical release. The Maid, which was streamed on Netflix in Thailand after its success at the American Film Market, was excellent. Directed by Lee Thongkham, a Thai director who grew up in the US and returned to Thailand to make movies, the film tells the story of a young maid who is employed to work in a luxurious mansion owned by a couple with a young daughter. In collaboration with cinematographer Brandt Hackney and Italian composer Bruno Brugnano, director Lee Thongkham brought elements of a psychological thriller to the genre. Ploy Sornarin, a young actress who had previously won some awards, was excellent, and should have a bright future.
Netflix also collaborated with GDH to stream Ghost Lab (Paween Purijitpanya), a horror about two doctors who cross between life and death to research the world of ghosts. Several Thai directors also directed new series for streaming providers like Netflix and HBO Go. Top-notch directors include Kongkiat Komsiri and Nattawut Poonpiriya, who co-directed Netflix’s Thai Cave Rescue Project with Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, 2018), and Anocha Boonyawatana (The Blue Hour, Malila) who co-directed HBO Asia’s first Thai series Forbidden with Korean-American Josh Kim (How to Win at Checkers [Every Time]).
Arthouse directors are still making experimental movies for international release on the film festival circuit. Anocha Suwichakornpong crafted her third feature Come Here (2021), about a group of four friends who visit the Death Railway. Prapat Jiwarangsan’s Ploy is a documentary about a Thai migrant sex worker in Singapore. Using several visual forms including painting, photography, 35mm slide projection, letters, and a herbarium, the film was deemed an artistic success. Both films debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival. Taiki Sakpisit’s feature film debut The Edge of Daybreak portrays the troubled history of Thailand by showing the trauma that takes place within a family. With a strong focus on doom-laden atmospherics, the film reaped a critics’ award at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam.
Despite the hardships, the Thai film industry remains hopeful, and audiences eagerly await films by old and new directors. A bright future may be just around the corner.
Anchalee Chaiworaporn