DIRECTOR:
Nattawut Poonpiriya LEAD CAST: Chutimon
Chuengcharoensukying, Chanon Santinatornkul, Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Eisaya
Hosuwan PRODUCER: Jira Maligool,
Vanridee Pongsittisak, Suwimon Techasupinan, Chenchonnee Soonthonsaratul,
Weerachai Yaikwawong SCREENWRITER:
Nattawut Poonpiriya, Tanida Hantaweewatana, Vasudhorn Piyaromna CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun EDITOR: Chonlasit Upanigkit MUSIC: Vichaya Vatanasapt GENRE:
Heist Thriller PRODUCTION
COMPANY: Jor Kwang Films DISTRIBUTOR:
GDH 559 COUNTRY: Thailand
LANGUAGE: Thai with English subtitle
RUNNING TIME: 130 minutes
Technical Assessment: 3.5
Moral Assessment: 3
Cinema Rating: A14
MTRCB Rating: PG13
Lynn (Chutimon
Chuengcharoensukying), is a teenage student genius who transfers to an upscale school
in ninth grade upon her father’s decision, despite her initial objections. She
ends up meeting and making friends with some affluent students, who eventually
offer her money in exchange for helping them cheat during school tests. Lynn
devises a brilliant plan to broadcast the answers to tests to an entire room of
mostly cheaters. As if it’s not enough, her friends challenge her to cheat and
do the same for them in a strictly monitored international test for them to
have the opportunity to study abroad. Will they be able to pull it off and get
away from the crime?
Bad Genius is undeniably a
clever film done with such admirable genius. The pacing and plot development
are brilliant. It was able to capture its theme from micro to macro perspective
seamlessly. The characterization is consistent and the actors, especially the
leads all give justice to their multi-layered persona. The film takes its
international audience to a milieu both familiar and strange—making the film
entirely universal despite the different language. The film style is a fusion
of modern technique and sincere emotions that one could easily overlook the
film’s rather long running time. The excitement during the entire running time
does not falter and up to the end the film does not disappoint. Amid the bunch
of teeny-bopper romcom films that audiences usually see, Bad Genius is a breath of fresh air—and it somehow shows that there
are many other issues and concerns of the young that films should tackle aside
from romance.
Bad Genius takes cheating to
a different level and provides a platform for dialogue on a wider social issue
of inequality. While God may have gifted human beings with different talents,
it is not meant to foster inequality; rather, it’s meant to test one’s
responsibility to either prosper such gift for good or not. It is not the
ability or the talent itself that makes a person good or bad, but how it is put
to use. It is clear in the film that the more blessed one is, the more
responsibility he or she has in society. Inequality stems from human weakness
of greed and selfishness. Temptation always exists to test one’s character. The
film depicts social ills—poverty, corruption, dishonesty—and these exist even
in educational institutions. But then goodness triumphs over evil in the end as
it is seen that crime, however small, does not pay. What makes the film
uplifting is the glimmer of hope it gives as it shows that humans can win over
temptations and that doors and chances to correct mistakes for the greater good
are always open to those who sincerely repent. But then given the film’s theme
on cheating, the very young might see it differently and might selectively
pick-up cheating ideas as those petty crimes are mostly committed in classrooms—so
CINEMA deems Bad Genius as
appropriate only for audiences 14 and up.
