Daniel Nico Laudit says he doesn’t cry easily. He decided to test his mettle at a movie theater in Manila this month, documenting the experience for his 4.5 million followers on TikTok.
Before the screening, he filmed himself dancing and smiling, and told the camera: “Look at me before ‘How to Make a Million Before Grandma Dies.'” About two hours later, he uploaded a completely different picture Myself: Wipe away my tears.
“I went straight to the bathroom after the movie because I wanted to cry loudly,” said 24-year-old content creator Laudit in a phone interview. He said he cried even more when he got home.
Reactions like Mr. Laudit’s made the film, shot largely in Thai in Bangkok, a hit in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, tickets were sold out on opening day, theaters had to add more shows to meet demand, and one theater chain began handing out tissues to audiences. In Singapore, the film topped the box office list from June 6 to 9. In Indonesia, it attracted millions of viewers. In Thailand, it was the highest-grossing film of the year to date.
The story revolves around M, an aimless unemployed young man whose only ambition is to live broadcast his online games. He volunteered to care for his grandmother after she discovered she had stage 4 cancer. His motive was not filial piety; Instead, he wishes he could inherit her house.
After moving in with his grandmother, M gains a deeper understanding of the complex characters in a Thai-Chinese family: Chew, his long-suffering mother who feels she is the only one who can step up to care for her; Soei, a loser a young uncle who borrows money from his grandmother and steals things; and Jiang, an uncle who is preoccupied with his daughter and materialistic wife.
“It’s about what we all have in common, which is family,” said the film’s director, Pat Boonnitipat.
This part of the world “is familiar with many generations living in the same house. I think that growing up creates a unique feeling in your memory,” said Mr. Pat, 33.
The film explores the tensions that arise in a family leading up to the death of a head of household, as well as the ongoing gender bias. “A son inherits a house, a daughter inherits cancer,” Zhou said in one memorable line.
Granny, played by first-time actress Usha Seamkhum, has a gruff, bristle personality, but viewers soon discover that beneath her strong exterior, she loves her family deeply and is very Lonely. Many viewers said they loved the chemistry between Ms Usha and her partner Putipong Asaratanaku, who plays the grandson.
Mr. Putthipong, better known as Billkin, is a well-known Thai television actor and pop singer.
Angeline Kartika, a 24-year-old content creator in the capital Jakarta, said: “The strength of this film is storytelling and how to bring the audience into the story so that they can relate the story in the film to their own personal feelings. life comparison. She watched the movie last month.
Like many viewers, Joy Ni Ni Win, a digital marketing executive in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, said she heard about the film on TikTok.
“That got me interested — ‘Okay, why are people crying so much?’” Ms. Joy, 28, said.
She figured it out quickly. A friend filmed her in tears at the movie theater after the credits rolled.
Diana Setiawati, who watched the film in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, said it made her think about how little time she spent with her mother. She called her right after the movie ended.
“How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” is the first feature film from Mr. Pat, a self-taught filmmaker who has previously worked in television. He said the film was unusual in Thailand, where horror and comedy films usually dominate the box office. The film will be screened at the New York Asian Film Festival in July.
The film is based on a script by the famous screenwriter Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn. Mr. Pat expanded on it based on his own experience. His maternal grandmother, now 92, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer 20 years ago. She helped raise him and the two still live together. He also added more characters based on his Cantonese mother’s family, describing them as “exactly the same, even down to the dialogue.”
They resonate with viewers like Shirley Low, chief marketing officer of Golden Screen Cinemas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital.
“Everything there was like: ‘Oh my God, this is like my family,'” she said, adding that her company didn’t expect the film to be a hit because it was in Thai.
“We couldn’t have foreseen the conversation around it,” she said.
In Manila, SM Supermarkets vice president for corporate marketing Ruby Ann O. Reyes said her company’s movie theaters distributed tissues to moviegoers. Staff in the theater also handed out more tissues during the “tear-jerking part.”
“Filipinos love to learn real-life lessons from every movie they watch, such as taking care of your grandmother and apologizing to her while she’s still alive,” Ms. Reyes said.
Ian Jeevan, a 27-year-old financial adviser in Singapore, said the film reminded him of his relationship with his grandmother. He uploaded a TikTok video of himself choking up, with the caption “Run over and hug my grandma now!!”
Muktita Suhartono and Lyn Hindriati Contributed reporting.
