P (2005)

Whilst growing up in rural Thailand, a young orphan girl is taught the ways of magic by her grandmother. But when grandmother falls sick, Dau is lured to Bangkok to find work so that she ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Spurrier

Writers:

Preeyaporn Chareonbutra (translation), Paul Spurrier (screenplay),

Stars:

Suangporn Jaturaphut, Dean Barrett, Shaun Delaney

Cast

Credited cast:
Suangporn Jaturaphut	...	Dau
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dean Barrett
Shaun Delaney	...	Rich Customer
John Kathrein	...	Customer
Chartchai Kongsiri	...	Policeman
Opal	...	Pookie
Pisamai Pakdeevijit	...	Grandmother
Supatra Roongsawang	...	New
Narisara Sairatanee	...	May
Amy Siriya	...	Mee
Paul Spurrier
Pattanachat Sritep	...	Shop Owner
Manthana Wannarod	...	Mamasang
Kochakorn Wongkitisopon	...	Shop Owner's Daughter
Dor Yodrak	...	Witchdoctor

Storyline

Whilst growing up in rural Thailand, a young orphan girl is taught the ways of magic by her grandmother. But when grandmother falls sick, Dau is lured to Bangkok to find work so that she can buy medicine. She finds herself working in a go-go bar, and her journey from naiveté to maturity is swift. She uses the magical skills her grandmother taught her to her advantage, but in doing so makes enemies within the bar. As her magic gets darker, and the consequences increasingly horrific, she gradually loses control, and something evil takes over.

---

Plot Keywords:

grandmother | orphan | loner | lesbian | one letter title | 

---

Taglines:

Hunting nightly, hungry for human meat.

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK Thailand

Language:

Thai

Release Date:

3 February 2006 (Spain)

Also Known As:

P (La possédée)

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company Credits

Production Co:

Creative Films Siam Ltd., Puvisate Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First Thai language film directed by a Westerner.

User Reviews

A really good Asian horror from British Director\Writer Spurrier. Scary, funny and quite creepy.

From the opening I found myself transfixed by the settings and location. From the countryside setting of the opening I was fascinated by how beautiful the country looked. Gorgeous settings and some beautifully chosen locations. I found myself looking closely at many of the smaller details, from the tree carved and varnished into a seat in the village scene to the bus that arrives to take Aaw (Dau, the main character) to the City.

The title sequence struck me as interesting, and I have yet to find out if this was intentional or not, but it plays out like a series of comic book panels, or storyboard scenes. Perhaps there was some reasoning behind this, or perhaps it was just the way it turned out. However it does give a nice feel and a representation of broken moments while Aaw learns from her Grandmother.

This lush setting was then broken by the images of the city, a good transition scene showing the building confusion of Aaw as she gets lost in the sights and sounds of the City. At first the camera shows shots of new office blocks against old slums, street vendors and passing taxis, then the pace picks up and the roadside begins to blur. You pick out frozen moments at the roadside, a Louis Vitton shop, and then the senses are overrun and there's just a stream of passing light and noise.

Then the movie is taken over by the story of the City and the story turns to the plight of the girls of the go-go bar. What struck me throughout these scenes of the girls is how delicately they are portrayed. The girls themselves are never shown as being sleazy themselves, more manipulative. Apart from Aaw, now christened Dau for her new job, who has come to this world with her eyes firmly shut. They are actually shown in a good light, good in the sense of bleakness and the repeated idea that this is the end of the line, and there's nowhere else to go. It's interesting that the speeches that some of the girls give about the life they're in all show that they've accepted this life as the norm, it's only Dau that seems to have a problem with it.

The scenes at the beginning of the movie with Dau being "initiated" into this way of life are quite uncomfortable, and make you feel as sleazy watching them as the men with them. That should be almost, as Paul plays an excellently nasty person, and the scene he holds with Dau is steeped in a feeling of you're seeing too much, knowing this is just so wrong. It's that kind of emotive response from the audience that really makes a good scene, and that certainly delivers.

The girls are very good actresses, something I was surprised at was how natural they all seemed. In particular the relationship between Dau, played by Suangporn Jaturaphut, and Pookie played by Opal. They both are really strong together on screen and you really do believe that these two girls care for each other.

The story is written well and the ending very satisfying, although perhaps it is cut a little too harshly before the final sequence. You feel that there could have been a few scenes restored that were originally removed (in fact thirty minutes have been cut from the movie).

I was surprised at some of the special effects in the movie, the look of the spirit herself is supremely creepy, and in keeping with other creatures of Asian horror that may be more familiar. Also the scenes where the spirit enters the body and begins to eat from the inside are very well done and look to have been created with quite a budget behind them. Then there's a car crash scene which by no means seems small either in budget or in physical size on location.

There are some truly scary and creepy moments that I would definitely class as alongside more famous Asian horrors, I did jump once or twice, and carried an image or two to my bed that night, a superb affect for a movie to have. Some of the scare moments are excellently shot to provide just enough scare factor. Indeed the quality of the camera work throughout the movie is very good.

Let's not forget the comedy in the movie as well, there are a couple of pretty funny lines. For instance the Desk Clerk asks the Security Guard to visit a room as someone has complained about a Westerner "moaning loudly" in the room. "A westerner moaning loudly in a hotel room? That's unusual!". The subtitles are in perfect English and carry through the humour very well.

Something I wasn't so sure about was the comic element during some of the horror scenes. I'm not entirely convinced it was intended in some parts, although without a doubt the scene with Paul was funny and uncomfortable at the same time, yet others I was unsure whether to laugh. This is particularly true of a scene where a Westerner dies on a bed and blood shoots out from his ears, a few of the audience laughed and I was unsure if this was the desired reaction. It really did feel like a Hammer House moment.

Although the story did seem to leap through a few key moments in Dau's power misuse, and also just prior to the ending, I enjoyed the movie, even with the comic horror moments which I felt let it down slightly. There were some very scary and uneasy moments throughout, and the girls were very well acted and were portrayed with an unusual sensitivity for a Westerner. Combined with some amazing locations early on, this makes for an enjoyable movie, just don't watch it too late.