The Murderer

Absolutely perfect and recommended to others as well, kudos to the crews and the others...👏👏👏

Magandang pelikula!

Magandang pelikula!

Magandang pelikula!

Magandang pelikula!

I didn't expect much from Phetthai's movies, which are usually just a try-to-be-funny, but this one is better than what I thought. Overall, the movie is entertaining and really funny at times. First of all, I'm impressed with the camera work. It's stylish and there are scenes that are impressively beautiful like the flashback when the police talked about the origin of his scar and the first ride to the village under the grey sky amidst the green field of Thai Northeast countryside. The computer graphic and make-up were effective; I particular like the cloud turning into comic characters at the final part. Some corpse look scary and some look funny. The use of Esarn music in some particular scenes made me burst out laughing because it's just so ironic when played in that scene. Very creative use of the soundtrack like this. The editing works as well, it keeps the story moving fast but everything is easy to follow. Talking about the cast performance, I think all of them did good job. I especially like the performance of Little June and the fat Farang husband. The plot are creative and good for this type of investigation / dark comedy film. However, there are moments so unrealistic like when people see a dead body and still don't think she's dead. Oh well, the later half are presented in a very comical way so that passed and we just laughed instead of thinking about that. I think the twists at the ending is smart, but I don't recommend your young children to watch this film, really.

source: The Murderer

source: The Murderer

I was surprised by this one. I thought this would be another "meh" foreign Netflix police procedural. But it turned out more black comedy than crime drama. And heavy on the comedy. I kept thinking this would be what the Cohen brothers would produce if they had their careers in Thailand. Very funny with quirky characters I found strangely appealing. The story centers on Earl, a British man who is accused of murdering his Thai in-laws who live on a farm in rural Isan province, a rice farming region in northeast Thailand. As a farang (a white European) he is suspect right off the bat as he is somewhat exotic for this rural area, an outsider who the local detective -- who is a bit of comic relief -- seems to imbue with all sorts bad qualities. Otherwise bland, kind Earl is seen as a possibly violent, ferocious being prone to murderous rage. The detective could be a comic book like Southern sheriff with a hate for "outsiders" if this were an American comedy. His wife, Sai, and her niece, an adorable, precocious little girl of maybe seven or eight, seem to be the only witness who can clear his name. But the story is in pieces. We see the murders from several different points of view, none of them especially reliable. The best aspect of the movie are the characters and the actors who play them. (Sorry: but IMDB does not have a complete list of characters). There is the wife, Sai, who fled the courtly for Bangkok and a job as a travel agent. Her brother, Phett, a goofy layabout who likes to drink with his best friend who is also Sai's ex-husband. There is mom, a practical, stern, opinionated country woman. Dad, a diligent, hard working rice farmer. Sai's sister, a snippy, unlikable former prostitute who has returned home with some money -- and nouveau riche behavior -- and her farang husband, a very obese, not very intelligent guy from New Jersey who drives a jacked up yellow Toyota pickup truck. Finally, a crazy aunt in the attic. Despite their "issues" they are all likable. The best scene is at the dinner table where most of the characters are together. Great banter. Especially funny: Phett and Sai's ex can not pronounce Earl's name. It comes out like Errrr. Phett: "What kind of name is Errr?" The stew has large insects (grasshoppers?) as a protein so more laughs as Errr tries to hide his disgust for local cuisine and mom-in-law's cooking. This is also where hallucinogenic mushrooms are introduced which factor into the eventual mayhem and the unreliability of some of the players in the murders. It's all great fun. I may actually watch it agin. If you love dark comedy and the Cohen brothers this is for you.

THE MURDERER is a wild trip, and I am not saying it as a figure of speech, it truly is a mad trip as literal magic mushrooms are present in the film and are even responsible for a large chunk of the story. The writing is just flawless, and the direction is marvellous. It tells a story of a mass murder from multiple vantage points, and its narrative is so dense and wacky at the same time, that you can't help but marvel at its intelligence, both in storytelling as well as in its clever subversion of tropes. The film constructs an interesting fish-out-of-water scenario and cleverly subverts conventions where rather than the white man being the saviour, he needs to be saved. If taken at face value, the story is pretty straightforward, but it's narrated through a very fractured and non-linear style. It's as much a hilarious comedy as an intense murder mystery, and both genres merge perfectly in this madcap tale. Also who could have thought that a mystery comedy can teach such a valuable lesson about prejudice, preconceived notions and their adverse role in our life? The film manages to wrap its wonderfully intermittent narrative nicely by the end, and the moment you think it's over, the film throws another curve ball, which makes the whole thing a bit murky and the circumstances involving a lot of happenings slightly convenient. Technically, the film is also competent with awesome cinematography, brilliant all-around ensemble performances and superb sound design. This film was a pleasant surprise for me and easily among my favourite films of the year. Go watch it, it's a great idiosyncratic non-linear comic mystery thriller about mass murder, a family with lots of issues, an unfortunate white man, lots of inherent biases, a few misunderstandings, some drugs and either a very clever or a straight-up psycho person.