FAMILY IS CALLING.

When Mengju (Usha Seamkhum) is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, her grandson (Putthipong Assaratanakul), who’s dropped out of university, suddenly begins to show an interest; he’s hoping to inherit her estate.

That title makes it look like a silly 1980s heist comedy, and the original script was indeed more focused on slapstick. But in his directing debut, Pat Boonnitipat added personal touches (including experiences of caring for his ailing grandmother) and turned the story into a sentimental but heartwarming and authentic look at the dynamics and conflicts within a Thai-Chinese family.

A real tearjerker, and a huge hit in several Asian countries.

2024-Thailand. 125 min. Color. Directed by Pat Boonnitipat. Screenplay: Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn, Pat Boonnitipat. Music: Jaithep Raroengjai. Cast: Putthipong Assaratanakul (M), Usha Seamkhum (Mengju), Sarinrat Thomas (Sew), Sanya Kunakorn, Pongsatorn Jongwilas, Tontawan Tantivejakul.

Trivia: Original title: Lahn Mah.

Last word: “Our casting director gave it her all to find the grandma, but she said she ran out of candidates, so we’d have to do a regular search. Luckily my assistant director worked on [a] music video, and he was showing me [Seamkhum’s] pictures, and it was her smoking and holding a guitar. She was acting so cool, but she looked nice [laughs]. So, we called her in, and she nailed it. It was a scene that many people struggled with. That scene where M is rolling her in the wheelchair in the hospital, and they were fighting about how much she loves him. She nailed it in one take.” (Boonnitipat, Deadline)