The Stone

Arak Amornsupasiri's 2025 Thai film follows Ake, who needs money for his sick father's treatment. He takes his father's sacred amulet to a well-known expert for appraisal, and the transaction goes somewhere he did not expect. The ground of the film is the amulet trade in Thailand. In that field fact and belief are entangled; an object's value comes not from its material properties but from the story of whose it was. Fraud is therefore easy and proof nearly impossible. The narrative follows the crime thriller template and the pace rises in the second half. Amornsupasiri was known as a musician and actor; here, directing, he treats the subject with documentary-like detail. Who it's for: those who like Thai crime thrillers and narratives about the economy of belief. Who it's not for: viewers without the cultural background; the film uses the rules of amulet appraisal without explaining them.