Latest news with #ghoststory
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
The Red Envelope brings Thai popstars Billkin and PP Krit together for deeply silly queer ghost love story
If 2005 rom-com Just Like Heaven hinged on Mark Ruffalo helping the ghost of Reese Witherspoon jolt her body to life and find her one true love, Thai comedy The Red Envelope is about a man helping a ghost he has been betrothed to achieve his dream of getting married and reincarnated. It is as culturally specific as it gets. Fast Facts about The Red Envelope What: A deeply silly platonic love story between a gay ghost and a straight man Directed by: Chayanop Bonnprakob Starring: Billkin, PP Krit, Piyamas Monyakul, Anna Chuancheun Where: In cinemas now Likely to make you feel: Tickled and, despite yourself, moved The ghost is the spirit of gay man Titi, whose wishes to get married in life were thwarted by a prejudiced father. On his last day on Earth, Titi had a fight with his father and died in a hit-and-run car accident while in an anguished state. In a posthumous scheme hatched by Titi's amah (Piyamas Monyakul) — perhaps the most progressive grandma to ever live — whoever stumbles upon a red envelope with Titi's lock of hair and cut fingernails will be his husband for perpetuity. That person turns out to be Menn, a petty criminal-turned-informant who fools men and women alike in sting operations that often go wrong due to his general uselessness. Crucially, he's also a homophobic straight man, despite his penchant for masquerading as a gay man when it suits him. The Red Envelope's draw rests on its two superstar leads: Thai actor-singers PP Krit and Billkin, who play Titi and Menn respectively. This is not the first time they have acted together, however — their joint breakout roles were in the queer coming-of-age TV series I Told Sunset About You and its sequel I Promised You the Moon. The rapport between them is palpable as Menn's prejudice gives way to care and he becomes accustomed to the presence of a ghost in his apartment, while Titi discovers things about his life that shatter his understanding of himself and his loved ones. The other thing that must be said: The Red Envelope is patently ridiculous, comically overblown and absurdly camp. The low-fi special effects as Titi jumps out of photo frames and glides through the air like he is on roller-skates — I suspect this is the case, because we never see his feet — make the technology of late 90s TV adaptation Animorphs look sophisticated. The one horror scene in the film is so overdone it is ludicrous. Titi's ability to possess anyone leads to uproarious outcomes, particularly in the case of Menn. One particularly memorable scene revolves around Menn undergoing a makeover as he pretends to be a gay man in order to infiltrate a queer club — the transformation hinges on an outfit that an archetypal straight man like Menn would not be capable of conjuring. Challenged to a dance battle that is most reminiscent of White Chicks, Menn is possessed by Titi, who takes pity on him, and soon his stilted dance moves give way to stylised voguing and impeccable choreography. The emotional core of the film begins to emerge after the first act as Menn starts to work with Titi to track down his killer, a case that neatly segues into Menn's own mission to discover the identity of a drug overlord who remains at large. Motivated initially by his wish to vanquish Titi permanently from his life — the theory is that Titi will be reincarnated if he finds peace — Menn starts to discover the benefits of having a close friend, when he previously had none. The Red Envelope is a remake of 2022 Taiwanese blockbuster Marry My Dead Body, but it has a tongue-in-cheek script that references its own distinct influences, from Thai horror film Shutter to South Korean social realist drama Parasite. At times, the film struggles to balance its sillier aspects with the ever-growing seriousness of the dual mysteries that it is trying to resolve. Did it have to be 2 hours 8 minutes? Almost certainly not. Less a rom-com and more a buddy cop bromance between the unlikeliest of partners, The Red Envelope tugs on the heartstrings — particularly in a stirring climactic performance by Titi's father (Anna Chuanchuen) — even as it remains a deeply unserious film.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Hidden Gem: ‘A Useful Ghost' Is a Socio-Political Parable Starring a Vacuum Cleaner
A woman dies, only to return in the form of a vacuum cleaner to stay close to, and intimate with, her husband. Yes, you read that right! Thai writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's A Useful Ghost, world premiering in the Critics' Week lineup in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, is a ghost story but also so much more. After Nat dies from dust pollution, her husband, March, is consumed by grief. 'His daily life is turned upside down when he discovers his wife's spirit has been reincarnated in a vacuum cleaner,' reads the synopsis for the debut feature from Boonbunchachoke, who makes his living writing for TV and has made short films (Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall). 'As absurd as it seems, their bond is rekindled, stronger than ever. But it is hardly to everyone's liking. His family, still haunted by the accidental death of a factory worker, rejects this supernatural relationship. To prove their love, Nat offers to clean the factory to prove herself a useful ghost, even if that means doing away with some lost souls…' More from The Hollywood Reporter Cannes: 'Militantropos' Directors on Identity and the Limits of Art: "The War Has Become Part of Us" Cannes: Salty Pictures Sets Martial Arts Drama '8 Limbed Dragon,' Starring UFC Fighter Jingliang Li (Exclusive) Ethan Coen, Wife and Writing Partner Tricia Cooke on Lesbian B-Movies, Trump, Re-Teaming With Joel Thai actress, influencer and model Davika Hoorne and Witsarut Himmarat star as the couple in the movie from Bangkok-based 185 Films, on which Best Friends Forever is handling international sales. The ensemble cast also includes Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjud, and Wisarut Homhuan. The film is inspired by Mae Nak, a well-known ghost story in Thai folklore. As that story goes, a young woman had undying love for her husband. When she got pregnant, he was sent to war in the Thai army. After getting wounded, he had to be nursed back to health, while his wife and their baby died during childbirth. When the man returned home, he found his loving wife and child waiting for him, ignoring warnings from neighbors that he was living with ghosts. 'It's an iconic character in Thai popular culture, and there have been TV, theater, and other stories about it,' Boonbunchachoke tells THR. 'I'm interested in socio-political issues. So, I tried to look at this story again and look for what I could say about it. And I wondered how ghosts would exist in contemporary society. Do they need to work like a human being to earn a salary? One of the first images for me was the ghost walking into the office. It was matching the legend with the contemporary capitalist world.' The movie is also a plea to not sweep the past under the carpet. 'In Thailand, there is so much history of small people that gets forgotten,' shares Boonbunchachoke. 'People often try to stay away from or exercise ghosts, as if trying to erase a disturbing past. But we should maybe talk more about the past and about this marginalized history, because it could return in a more malicious form. As human beings, maybe we owe ghosts something. We need to listen to them and respond to them.' Shooting the scenes with the vacuum took all sorts of planning. 'We had two models of the vacuum cleaner,' the director explains. 'One had a motor inside so that we could remote control it. But it could just move on the ground, but could not move the hose. In regular scenes, we just decided on one of two trunk positions: heads up [or not]. But movements of the hose needed to be manually handled by three people, and then we deleted that in post-production.' The choice of the vacuum came to Boonbunchachoke as he kept developing the story. 'Initially, I thought she'd appear as a ghost in human form,' he recalls. 'Normally, in cinema, people visualize ghosts in different forms. They just float around or don't have feet. Or they appear as a human, but translucent. Sometimes, they don't appear at all but just manifest through their voice. And in another tradition, the ghost doesn't appear at all but is invisible and moves things in your house.' He ended up liking the idea that the ghost could be in a piece of furniture or an electrical appliance. 'The choice of the vacuum cleaner is related to a very Thai context,' Boonbunchachoke explains. 'Dust pollution is real in Thailand. People have been talking about it for 10 years or so. But 'dust' also has another meaning in [Thai] slang. When you call someone that, it means they are insignificant, like dust – they can be moved, swept up, wiped out by people with power, with authority. So, it means a human who doesn't have power to control their life.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Critics' Week: Thai Director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke on Possessed Vacuum Cleaners and Dust Pollution in ‘A Useful Ghost'
A ghost-possessed vacuum cleaner might sound like standard horror fare, but in the hands of Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, it transforms into a sly commentary on pollution, power dynamics, and the cost of living crisis in Bangkok. Boonbunchachoke's debut feature, selected for Cannes Critics' Week, marks Thailand's return to the prestigious festival after a decade-long absence. More from Variety 'Miroirs No. 3' Review: Christian Petzold and Paula Beer Team Up Once More for an Elegant Sliver of a Psychodrama 'Thank You for Banking With Us!' Wins Best Film at Critics Awards for Arab Films The Remake Co. Unveils 13th Adaptation of Hit Global Franchise 'Ten Days Without Mom' 'I'm really excited. I'm very delighted, but also nervous as well, because it's such a big event for me,' Boonbunchachoke tells Variety. 'Critics' Week is a very ideal platform for the film for the world to discover it.' 'A Useful Ghost' follows March, who is mourning his wife Nat after she dies from dust pollution. When her spirit returns by possessing a vacuum cleaner, their unconventional human-ghost relationship faces resistance from his family. To prove her worth and their love, Nat offers to cleanse a factory haunted by the ghost of a worker whose death shut down operations. The film ingeniously reimagines the ghost story as a satirical romantic comedy, a deliberate departure from Thailand's renowned horror cinema traditions. 'Thailand is well known for horror cinema, and we also have a genre that might not travel abroad very much – horror comedy,' explains Boonbunchachoke. 'But with this film, I try not to follow the conventions of both paths. One of my first ideas was wondering how a ghost could exist in contemporary society. Do they need to work? Because cost of living here is now very expensive.' This unique approach reflects the director's preference for humor over horror. 'I'm a kind of funny guy more than a guy who wants to scare people,' he says. The film addresses pressing environmental concerns in Thailand, particularly dust pollution, which has become a severe issue over the past decade. 'We have dust pollution every winter. People will start complaining about the dust quality in the neighborhood, especially in Bangkok and in the north,' Boonbunchachoke explains. The film's Thai title carries a dual meaning in local slang, where 'dust' also refers to 'people with no power.' 'Dust is something that we don't want in our house. And people don't want ghosts in the house,' he observes. 'Ghosts are someone who died and supposed to be gone already, but they still linger in the present.' The industrial workspace in the film functions as a compelling allegorical backdrop for broader societal issues. 'The factory itself is a very visual setting for labor exploitation and industrialization, and it says a lot about how pollution could be caused by manufacturing itself, and how laborers could risk their lives due to working conditions,' notes the director. A co-production between Thailand (185 Films), France (Haut Les Mains), Singapore (Momo Film Co), and Germany (Mayana Films), the film benefited from international collaboration, though not without challenges. One unexpected boon was working with a Singaporean industrial designer on the film's crucial vacuum cleaner. 'I never actually considered working with an actual industrial designer because I thought they might emphasize functionality more than aesthetics,' Boonbunchachoke admits. 'But he came up with some very weird designs, and I was amazed.' The film stars Davika Hoorne as Nat, Wisarut Himmarat as March, Apasiri Nitibhon as Suman, and Wanlop Rungkumjad as Krong. Boonbunchachoke, who is of Teochew-Hainanese descent, graduated from Chulalongkorn University's film department. His short film 'Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall' won the Junior Jury Award at Locarno in 2020. In his day job, he works as a scriptwriter for television. 'A Useful Ghost' represents Boonbunchachoke's first feature film. He hopes it will challenge perceptions of Thai cinema. 'I hope people will pay more attention to Thailand again. This film is quite different from what people expect Thai cinema to look like. This film could expand how people see what Thai cinema is and what kind of stories it could tell.' As for what's next, Boonbunchachoke is already gathering ideas for his second feature. 'If this one is successful to some extent, maybe the second film would be easier to get made,' he says. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Eerie gem' of an unearthed Graham Greene story published in Strand Magazine
A short ghost story by Graham Greene described by analysts as 'an eerie gem' was published for the first time on Wednesday, a rare glimpse into the largely uncelebrated darker side of one of the giants of 20th-century literature. Reading at Night appears in the 75th issue of Strand Magazine, a New York literary quarterly that has built a reputation for finding and publishing 'lost' writings of well-known authors. The landmark edition also makes widely available for the first time a previously little-known short story by renowned spy novelist Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond series of books. Greene's tale delves into a resurrection of 'childhood fears and imagined horrors' experienced by a terrified solo male traveler as he reads supernatural stories in bed on a stormy night on the French Riviera. The story was probably written in 1962, Greene biographer Jon Wise told Strand, during a relatively barren period of his career in which the English writer said he 'didn't have a novel in him'. It is a departure from the deeper and more complex style of writing expressed in Greene's better-known psychological and political thrillers including The Third Man, Our Man in Havana, The Power and the Glory, and Brighton Rock. 'Greene wasn't just a masterful novelist, he also excelled at the short story form, producing numerous classics,' said Andrew F Gulli, managing editor of Strand Magazine. 'As a huge admirer of Graham Greene, whom I've often considered one of the 10 greatest writers of the 20th century, this piece was a personal highlight. It's especially meaningful given that he published a chilling ghost story, A Little Place Off the Edgware Road, in the original Strand Magazine back in 1939. 'While the story featured here may carry less overt menace, it still demonstrates Greene's remarkable ability to hold a reader's attention and subtly blur the line between entertainment and drama. Greene is a very serious author, and here there's humor. It's a playful yet chilling nod to the great supernatural stylists.' In the story, the protagonist recalls how reading Dracula and horror stories by MR James traumatized him as a child, and from then 'he had never enjoyed reading alone in bed anything which might prove ghostly or violent'. So when he finds himself alone in the bedroom of a 'strange' rented house on the Côte d'Azur, in the middle of a raging storm, and with only a paperback anthology of stories for company, his old fears come rushing back. In both the creepy story he reads, and the bedroom he is reading it in, there are mysterious scratching noises on the glass of the windows. Gulli said the manuscript was found in archives at the Harry Ransom Center library at the University of Texas at Austin, and was subsequently evaluated and transcribed by Camilla Greene, steward of the Greene literary estate and granddaughter of the writer, who died in 1991. 'This eerie gem remained tucked away until now,' Gulli said. 'It's a story you can identify with. Weird things can happen to you when you're traveling alone, not weird like this story, but I've had odd knocks on the door in the middle of the night, or some unusual creaking, or you have a nightmare or something. 'It's kind of like an everyday event and Graham Greene, with his great turn of phrase, his great style, turns it into something where it's a what-if that can go a little too far, but just far enough to have a lot of interest to it.' The story by Fleming, meanwhile, called The Shameful Dream, is also a separation from the author's traditional fare. It builds suspense through a series of recollections of previous firings as a London periodical's literary editor prepares for a potentially fateful meeting with the publication's overbearing proprietor. 'While forever associated with the tuxedoed glamor of 007, Fleming was a talent who could transcend genre,' Gulli said. 'This piece has no martinis, no Aston Martins and no villains bent on world domination. It's a quietly unsettling story about a washed-up journalist wrestling with the dread of an invitation to a sadistic media mogul's mansion, a tale more literary than spy thriller, revealing Fleming's lesser-known capacity for irony and sharp social observation.' The story will also feature in Talk of the Devil, a collection of Fleming's writings incorporating short-form fiction, travel essays, lectures, and correspondence with his friend and crime novelist Raymond Chandler, set to be published later this month. In July, 22 of Greene's short stories will feature in another new collection, called Duel Duet, published by Penguin.
