This movie is a slow burn but it does keep you hooked as you desperately want to see what the two main characters have to do with each other. Their story lines run parallel and barely cross, though I won't give away anymore.
The main take away for me is bad decisions of youth very similar to the Filipino film "Ordinary People". However there is a clever underlying theme added to the film of leaving people or leaving loved ones. Throughout the film there are constant departures by death or angry partition and the constant mention by the supporting cast of not wanting the main characters or other loved ones to leave them.
Plot summary
Som, daughter of a sex worker, believes that love will lead her towards a better life. Ter, a young criminal, robs just to buy love that doesn't exist. Redlife explores a world that is broken, ignored, and which offers no escape.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
July 11, 2024 at 05:15 PM
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Top cast
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A worthy slow burn that does keep you hooked
Dark themes for Thailand but tame by European standards
Surprised that this indie style drama managed to get a cinema release in Thailand - Bravo - There's themes of mild sex, a drug scene, lesbian implied schoolgirls and prostitution references.
Some very good acting performances and decent character arcs hold together a fairly weak central plot and melodrama- not sure what happened to the school fee money - that plot line was confusing. Would have been better if it dared to push the darker themes more - seemed restrained as compared to the Vietnamese stunner Cyclo which was of course banned for years.
Tame by western indie drama standards but a welcome Thai production. I wonder if this will open the floodgates for more a more gritty social realism movement in Thai film production?
dark without dimension
IMO, films should be a bridge that connect people, make us understand each other. In this case it should connect the middle-class (who can pay the expensive cinema ticket, or subscribing to Netflix) to the poor. However, this film only shows "predictable consequences" of a series of bad decisions, without any convincing motive on why they choose to do that. In the end, we, the audience, only feel that the characters in the film deserved it.
Great acting anyway. The film overall is not that bad to the point that you shouldn't watch it. But just watch it once is enough, and there's no real memorable moments that stick in your mind and make you think about the life of the poor afterward.