The Murderer

I was surprised by this one. I thought this would be another "meh" foreign Netflix police procedural. But it turned out more black comedy than crime drama. And heavy on the comedy. I kept thinking this would be what the Cohen brothers would produce if they had their careers in Thailand. Very funny with quirky characters I found strangely appealing.

The story centers on Earl, a British man who is accused of murdering his Thai in-laws who live on a farm in rural Isan province, a rice farming region in northeast Thailand. As a farang (a white European) he is suspect right off the bat as he is somewhat exotic for this rural area, an outsider who the local detective -- who is a bit of comic relief -- seems to imbue with all sorts bad qualities. Otherwise bland, kind Earl is seen as a possibly violent, ferocious being prone to murderous rage. The detective could be a comic book like Southern sheriff with a hate for "outsiders" if this were an American comedy.

His wife, Sai, and her niece, an adorable, precocious little girl of maybe seven or eight, seem to be the only witness who can clear his name. But the story is in pieces. We see the murders from several different points of view, none of them especially reliable.

The best aspect of the movie are the characters and the actors who play them. (Sorry: but IMDB does not have a complete list of characters). There is the wife, Sai, who fled the courtly for Bangkok and a job as a travel agent. Her brother, Phett, a goofy layabout who likes to drink with his best friend who is also Sai's ex-husband. There is mom, a practical, stern, opinionated country woman. Dad, a diligent, hard working rice farmer. Sai's sister, a snippy, unlikable former prostitute who has returned home with some money -- and nouveau riche behavior -- and her farang husband, a very obese, not very intelligent guy from New Jersey who drives a jacked up yellow Toyota pickup truck. Finally, a crazy aunt in the attic.

Despite their "issues" they are all likable. The best scene is at the dinner table where most of the characters are together. Great banter. Especially funny: Phett and Sai's ex can not pronounce Earl's name. It comes out like Errrr. Phett: "What kind of name is Errr?"

The stew has large insects (grasshoppers?) as a protein so more laughs as Errr tries to hide his disgust for local cuisine and mom-in-law's cooking. This is also where hallucinogenic mushrooms are introduced which factor into the eventual mayhem and the unreliability of some of the players in the murders.

It's all great fun. I may actually watch it agin. If you love dark comedy and the Cohen brothers this is for you.

This weird comedy begins in a way that may make you wonder if it will be worth your time. If you like bizarre, dark humor and some farce in your comedy, then the payoff will be coming your way.

A rural Thai family resents the hell out of a couple of Caucasian guys - an American and a Brit - who married two of their women. One night a massacre occurred around the parents' farmhouse and the Brit quickly becomes the main suspect. The local police chief has already made up his mind about the guilt of this outsider. The early part of the movie is his grilling the survivors, pushing hard to confirm his conclusion. Most of that unfolds as a semi-zany version of Rashomon.

The last 20-30 minutes are golden in unraveling the absurd chain of events that ended with such a liberal scattering of corpses in an unlikely setting. Very cleverly written and staged in building to its highly entertaining conclusion.

The "Farang" is the main theme of the movie whereas the murders should have been. One truly cannot focus on the movie as all they talk about is "farang this" "farang that" and thats all the god forbidden time! On top, the Irle character is the dumbest one I have ever seen. I get you are a foreigner but you cannot be this naive, stereotypical and what about all the overacting. Running around like a lunatic in the fields half the time. The premise was interesting and I'm all up for murder mystery with dark humor but this was just plain silly. Childish at best but does speaks volume of Viet caliber around policing and treating foreigners.

So loved this character-driven story about the most dysfunctional family I have ever seen. The interrogator, apparently one of the biggest comedians in Thailand, is quite a powerful and hilarious presence who carries this movie with his good intentions toward solving the mass murder. I do not wish to spoil this wondrous tale by saying much more. The acting is stellar and each character is beautifully drawn. Earl is such a delight. I am now watching this again so that I can see it all in a new light. You will too. Here is the alphabet so that I may complete the minimum number of letters required to complete the review. Abcd etc.

The movie was alright to start with. The only thing that slightly ruined it was the english dub which was very strange, as even earl was dubed too. But getting back to the movie. Earl is accused of murdering the in laws and the only witness is his wife and mai his niece. Thre detective in charge is a little odd but I liked his characters and all the characters had a certain quirkness that brought this from being just another murder mystery to elements of almost comedy and it worked. It made the movie overall enjoyable it had a good cast and the characters were written well enough so you could understand. Overall pretty good.