May Who? (2015)

Also known as: May Nai Fai Raeng Froe
Country: Thai
Format: movie
Genre: school, supernatural, comedy
Cast: Sutatta Uudomsilp (Punpun), Thiti Mahayotaruk (Bank), Thanapob Leeratanakojorn (Tor), Narikun Ketprapakorn (Frung), Thanaerng Kanyawee Songmuang,
Synopsis: Pong loves to draw stories of his crush Ming... and as a high school boy some of the drawings can be a bit more revealing than necessary. His school life gets changed when one day instead of his homework he by accident hands in the diary and the drawings reach Ming. While trying to get a revenge on May Nai - the girl who gave his drawings to Ming - he learns that May Nai might be the most special girl in his high school, if not in the whole universe, as she discharges electricity when her heart rate crosses 120 beats per minute.
Rating: 5/5
What can be a better first movie of the year than a great Thai teenage comedy?

As it is also explained in the trailer, in Thailand "May" is the most common name for girls and "May Nai" literally means "May Who". As sad as it sounds, this name describes the main character perfectly as she does everything to be in the background: make no great friends and just finish the school. Well, the reason behind it is actually her special "ability" to discharge electricity when her heartbeat raises. It is great to see her struggle with everyday life and how much it actually affects her life as to her it is more of a curse than a special ability.

Punpun was the only cast member who was elected for the part from the start and director Chayanop Boonprakob even thought of casting totally new actors for other roles so that not everyone would be from "Hormones", but in the end, he stuck to "Hormones"-generation. It is surprising for me that Punpun was the one elected, because during that time she was under suspension and she was not even allowed to attend promotions.

I would say that Pong seems more to be the main character of the movie as most of the movie is narrated by him and his thoughts. He is the nicest guy, but at the same time almost nobody notices him, making him disappear into the background. He lacks self-confidence when it comes to having a crush and thinks that it is more suitable for him to just "like from a far" even if that means that he'll definitely lose the girl. That's why it is great to see him learning with the time and understanding that to get a girl he actually has to take a step and convey his true feelings.

In addition, he is the best friend possible to ever have and it is surprising that despite being all the time alone before getting to know May, he is not socially awkward and finds it really easy to become great friends. Pong's character is based on movie director's teenage years, when he used to draw into his diary when he had a crush. Thithi fits into Pong's character so well as he has this cute nice-guy look. This was a movie-debut for Thithi and he even ended up taking extra drawing classes to portray his character well.

P'Fame is the most popular guy in the school - you know, the one who is handsome, good in everything he does and absolutely everybody love him. In reality, P'Fame had a crush on May Nai already before they talked for the first time. Already the fact that he asked her to join the team so quickly means that he paid much more attention to her than it was shown on screen. It is super cute to see how he gets also flustered and nervous when things come to May Nai. Unfortunately it is not shown since when and how he noticed May Nai. It is very good to see Tor in role were he is nice popular guy as it is very different from his role in "Hormones" as Phai.

I really started to like May's parents. They like to joke around, even when some of their jokes cross the line of sanity for sure. They are caring and understandable when it comes to May and it is very heartwarming to see how easily and somehow naturally they accept Pong, even though he is May's THE first friend and the first guy to be so close with May.

Unfortunately there is not much to say about Ming. As said, she is the crush of Pong, but from the beginning it seems to be just one-sided love. She seems caring and is the leader of the stand, even though there's not enough students to do it well. In a way I wish that they had given more meat to this character, but at the same time I understand that her role was meant to be known from Pong's side of view and for the outcome of the movie, it was needed for her character to be the way she was. The only reason I would have wanted to see more of her, was to see more of Frung's acting and her abilities as this role does not give much else to her than just a name in the cast and money in the pocket.

 Another character that I just want to mention is May The Cheerleader, who is the leader of the cheerleaders. I think that she could have had a bigger part in the movie, just so I could see Thanaerng Kanyawee Songmuang acting more. She played the part of Jane in "Hormones 2nd series" and there she was very promising actress, but unfortunately they did not give her enough screen-time nor lines to actually act.

I absolutely love the animation part in the movie. Especially good connection is that the school they are attending is Thai-Japanese school. In total it is just 10 minutes of animation, but it actually delayed the screening of the movie for 5 months.
Once again I must praise the actors great chemistry. Of course the reason comes from the fact that they all know each other from "Hormones" and basically grew up together.
After the movie, GTH published also a same-named comic-book that is basically a prequel to Pong's life. I will also mention that this was the last movie that GTH released before going their separate ways.