How to really Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
A top-grossing Thai comedy that hits close to the heart of the Asian home.
Suitability for Kids: Yes, for older teens
Suitability for Adults: Yes
Why is it on big issues that affect us daily, like money, we get movies like Jack Neo's “Money No Enough” in Singapore? These are really just a bunch of caricature skits.
Over in Thailand, they get Pat Boonnitipat's debut film, “How to make Millions Before Grandma Dies,” which is not only the top-grossing film in Southeast Asia, but also topping the weekend box-office in Singapore.
I know they have a much larger population over in Thailand, but here in Singapore, with a top arts school and all, surely we have some film talent too?
You're made of strong stuff if you don't cry at this movie
The plot is sublime: A young man, M, drops out of university to be a game caster. M is good for nothing. When his Grandma is diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer, he plots to move in with her to become her primary caregiver. He hopes to inherit her vast, life-changing fortune.
There is a Chinese saying:
久病床前无孝子.
It means there are no filial children at the bedside of a terminally ill person.
The movie touches deeply on family dynamics in Asia. There are the trope characters that, weirdly, also exist in most people's families: the favoured child, the good for nothing, the calculative in-law, the long-suffering daughter, and the lonely elderly.
Some of the dialogue seems to be plucked right out of my own extended family's real interactions.
Cinematography is superb, increasingly framing M. and his Grandma, demonstrating their growing relationship. The tones and colours of each frame speak of the nostalgia and warmth of home.
If one is close to one's Grandma, this is a painful film to watch. It becomes unclear if cinema-goers are crying due to the film or the memories it evokes.
Summary
I wish we had movies made in Singapore that are this good. We still don't.
However, the film didn't move me to tears as much as to a mix of sadness and anger.
Anger that after so much time and progress, Asian familial relationships and beliefs still don't see much change and are immutable and universal, like false statues that need smashing.
If there is one takeaway I would like my children to leave the film with, is this: You can inherit more than just money. You inherit the beliefs and culture of your parents. Be careful what you pass forward.
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