Dew

Chookiat Sakveerakul's 2019 Thai film is set in a provincial northern town in the mid-nineties. A closeness forms between a high school student who has moved from Bangkok and a classmate; neither can name what it is and their surroundings make no room for it. The film uses the period as the obstacle. The scale of the town, the discipline of the school and the families' expectations make the relationship impossible from the start; the second half follows the long-term consequence of that impossibility. Sakveerakul had made a well-known film on similar ground before, and here looks at the same matter from a bleaker position. The cinematography shows the period without making it nostalgic; snow and cold recur throughout. Who it's for: those who like Thai melodrama and queer coming-of-age narratives. Who it's not for: viewers looking for a hopeful ending; the film does not come near one.