Ploy

พลอย
2007 | เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง (Pen-Ek Ratanaruang)

Can love expire?

Ploy is a movie by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (เป็นเอก รัตนเรือง). The story begins when a couple arrive at an airport. They in fact have worked and lived in United States of America for several years, and the reason they come back to Thailand is to attend a funeral of their elder cousin. After taking a taxi and checking in to a hotel, the husband wants to grab a pack of cigarettes.

There, at the bar, he meets a mysterious young girl named ‘Ploy.’ Later, she tells him that she’s here waiting for her mother to pick her up. As there are several hours left until Ploy’s mother arrives. He invites her to get some rest in his room where she meets with his wife who believes that her husband is having an affair with another woman.

Ploy’s arrival without any advanced notice even make it look more annoying and very suspicious to her. She feels that her husband might no longer love her.

It’s a story about love and trust floating between reality and surreality. Sometimes it looks so real, yet sometimes it does feel like it might be just a dream.

There’s no twist or any turn in this film, it just goes straight forward to the end, accompanied by several cut scenes which kinda deviate audience’s attention from the main plot along with creepy background music.

The performance of Lalita Panyopas (ลลิตา ปัญโญภาส) is exceptional. But there’s nothing new or interesting about technique and direction. Well, it’s been done before, they’re just this and that from some European films, French perhaps.

So if you’ve seen Pen-Ek’s works before and like them, you probably are going to like this one as well. The singing scene is lovely, yet again it’s nothing new here.

You can also read other Ploy’s reviews (in Thai) from A-Random, Filmsick and Nariza. Please be warned that those reviews might contain spoilers and personal opinions which could narrow your perspective.