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A Useful Ghost film image; man looking down at a vacuum cleaner

A Useful Ghost

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And now for something completely different: an absurdist comedy about ghosts inhabiting home appliances that is simultaneously a rousing, radical work of historical excavation. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s film is a wacky, whimsical look at Thai politics, from the distant past to its recent history. The film opens with the purchase of a vacuum cleaner revealed to contain a dead man’s spirit; soon, a repair man is explaining its backstory, which unfolds in flashbacks recalling worker exploitation, subversive ghosts, and a government program devised to investigate citizens’ minds while they sleep.

Ratchapoom seeks sometimes to amuse, sometimes to galvanize, and always to entertain. His film is eclectic enough to merit many comparisons: his choreographed physical humour evokes the spirit of the silent era; bizarre scenes of deadpan humour carry a whiff of sketch comedy; and the allegorical rendering of Thai history recalls that nation’s reigning arthouse auteur, Apichatpong Weerasethakul. From its sardonic opening to its slam-bang conclusion, this is a jaunty, captivating work of cinema.

 

Grand Prix: Critics’ Week, Cannes 2025; Oscar Submission: Thailand

 

Supported by

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Media Partner

Director
Cast

Davika Hoorne, Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjad, Wisarut Homhuan

Credits
Country of Origin

Thailand/France/
Singapore/Germany

Year

2025

Language

In Thai with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At International Village & VIFF Cinema

19+

At The Rio

130 min
Award Winners Cinemas of Asia Comedy
185 Films, Haut Les Mains, Momo Film Co.

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Chayamporn Taeratanachai, Kip Tiaviwat, Annie Yang, Tanat Tananivit, Rachel Y. Wu, Kris Eiamsakulrat, Nopadol Srikieatkajohn

Producer

Cattleya Paosrijaroen, Soros Sukhum

Screenwriter

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

Cinematography

Pasit Tandaechanurat

Editor

Chonlasit Upanikit

Production Design

Sim Hao Jie

Original Music

Chaibovon Seelukwa

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke headshot

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke is a filmmaker of Teochew-Hainanese descent who was born and raised in Bangkok, where he currently resides. He works as a full-time scriptwriter, writing commercial features and television series while also teaching university film theory and scriptwriting. In 2020, he was selected to participate in Berlinale Talents program. His short film Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall was selected for Locarno in 2020 and won the Junior Jury Award — Leopards of Tomorrow (International Competition). Most recently he has been nurturing a film series investigating the colonial history of Thailand.

Filmography: Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall (2020)

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