As of writing, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is the highest-grossing film in Thailand. The family drama directed by Pat Boonnitipat continues to rake in additional millions from packed screenings across Southeast Asia (it has expanded to more countries since, including Australia and New Zealand) primarily due to word-of-mouth and reaction videos online describing the film as a tearjerker.
In a period where cinema ticket prices have soared and watching a film at home is the priority, the promise of catharsis that you can only get from a big-screen experience with a full audience has always been a great driver. A trending Tiktok transition has perfectly exemplified this, where content creators film their bursts of emotions (both tears and laughter) during How to Make Millions’ critical moments.
But assessing a film’s greatness because of its ability to draw in tears is unfair because How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is more than a showcase of drama.
The plot follows young M (Putthipong Assaratanakul), who seeks to take care of his dying grandmother/ Amah (Usha Seamkhum) battling Stage 4 cancer. He hopes that by doing his caregiving duties, he will gain her trust to inherit their family home. But M will soon learn that great fortune isn’t measured by money but by pure love.
Writer-director Pat Boonnitipat sells this story to us without being too pandering or preachy. Confrontations between siblings arguing over their mother’s fortune were presented as moments to reflect and accept each other’s shades. While joyous scenes linger more than usual to strengthen the bond between M and his Amah. With this, How to Make Millions makes its case that keeping things grounded and understated can be affecting.
Asian cinema has a rich history of family dramas that at some point, it can be inevitable to draw comparisons. There is nothing jaw-dropping about the conflicts at play in How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies. It’s all familiar and we’ve seen it many times, and it’s okay. Sometimes, it takes something common and integral to all of us to produce a more impactful message.
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is now showing in Australian and New Zealand cinemas nationwide.
Featured images from CineAsia.
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