One of the best films of 2025 premiered today on Netflix — and almost no one noticed

Money in itself is not an evil. In a world of appearances, what we do with money can be a problem, and from the moment material goods define others’ perception of us, an abyss of illusions is formed. Many will commit their souls to trying to belong to an exclusive and parallel universe, becoming irretrievably lost after some time; others, the minority, get there, aware that they will have to pay a perhaps unfair price. Getting rich without making an effort is the dream of nine-tenths of humanity, no matter what the consequences are or whether it is necessary to trample the law or basic notions of ethics and morals, as seen in the excellent “After I Died, Everyone Loves Me”. Once again, Thai cinema’s point of view on issues that will continue to torture human nature throughout eternity causes a species thanks to the clarity in calling things by their true names, a quality that is increasingly rare in Hollywood and that director Nithiwat Tharatorn knows how to handle like few others.

Someone can spend years saving up their savings and end up serving it as cat food. Sopana Chaowwiwatkul’s script balances between shocking, repulsive images and almost poetic subtleties in order to support its theme. Toh, the assistant manager of a bank in Pattaya, a tourist city about two hours from Bangkok, has jumped at every chance to show efficiency and get the long-awaited promotion. However, it seems that all his effort is inversely proportional to the results, and he spins in a tailspin, trying to guess what he should do to ultimately move up. Tharatorn strings together one anti-capitalist diatribe after another, all accurate, taking great care so that the plan doesn’t backfire and end up infantilizing his anti-hero complex. Naracha Chanthasin lends this cursed air to the central character, a man who provides the best for his daughter and wife. The best, despite his wishes, is a tortuous path, which he cannot overcome.

The director aligned the first sequence with the heart of the film, when Toh forms a relationship with Petch, an even more ambitious colleague — and not at all intimidated by a possible lawsuit or jail — and is convinced to embezzle thirty million baht, around five million reais, from a client in an anomalous situation. A certain artificiality takes over when Tharatorn includes the mafia in the narrative, an easy and predictable resource in the genre and in Thai productions; Chanthasin and Vachirawich Wattanapakdeepaisan’s performance atones for any of the feature’s peccadilloes, delirious and raw in equal measure.