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Bloody Disgusting’s parent company Cineverse has acquired A Useful Ghost with plans for a theatrical release.

The Thai supernatural dark comedy won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes.

Writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke makes his feature debut on the international co-production between Thailand, France, Singapore, and Germany.

March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing the vacuum cleaner. Being disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker’s death shut down their factory, his family reject the unconventional human-ghost relationship.

Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offers to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones.

Davika Hoorne (Pee Mak) and Witsarut Himmarat star with Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjad, and Wisarut Homhuan.

“What makes A Useful Ghost such a singular thrill isn’t just its wickedly inventive premise,...

Cineverse has boarded North American distribution on Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prix winner “A Useful Ghost,” the Thai dark comedy led by Davika Hoorne, with plans for a limited theatrical release followed by streaming on its flagship platform; financial terms were not disclosed. The deal hands first-time writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke his widest U.S. exposure and answers weeks of fan lobbying for a stateside rollout after the picture’s buzzy festival debut.

The 130-minute feature centres on March, a grieving factory worker who discovers that his late wife Nat now possesses their vacuum cleaner, an absurd premise Boonbunchachoke uses to probe class anxiety and eco-crisis. Critics’ Week programmers praised the film’s blend of satire and tenderness when it bowed on 17 May, eventually awarding it the section’s top prize after a lengthy standing ovation.

Backed by producers in Thailand, France, Singapore and Germany, the €18 million production was shot around...

Exclusive: Thai dark-comedy A Useful Ghost, which won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes, has been picked up by Cineverse for North America.

The deal marks a rare foray into foreign-language content for Terrifier outfit Cineverse, which is lining up a theatrical run for the movie at a later date.

A Useful Ghost tells the story of Nat, a woman who dies from dust pollution and returns to her husband March—reincarnated as a vacuum cleaner. Their love is reignited in the most unlikely form, but not everyone welcomes her return—especially March’s family, still unsettled by a ghostly presence that appeared after a factory worker’s death forced their business to close.

The film stars Thai star Davika Hoorne alongside Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjud, and Wisarut Homhuan. Emerging Thai writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke makes his feature debut.

The feature is produced by Cattleya Paosrijaroen and Soros Sukhum at Bangkok-based 185 Films,...

It is difficult to turn the tradition of one country’s outstanding cinematic genre history on its head. And yet, this is what the Thai writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke did with his quirky, out-worldly ghost comedy “A Useful Ghost” that world-premiered in the Critics’ Week competition strand of the 78th Cannes Film festival. It is one of the most talked-about movies which has won the hearts of film critics with its originality, good and offbeat story telling and good performances. In Boonbunchachoke’s script, the ghosts have to stay busy to be able to exist in their world by performing useful duties. One of them possesses a vacuum cleaner and goes to seek her grieving husband. Their love is not dead, but how does such romance loom like?

Amp sat down with the director to inquire about his secret ingredients that combine comedy, a Thai ghost legend, and sociopolitical comments to...

A Useful Ghost, the debut feature from Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke that THR had featured as a hidden gem at Cannes, has won the Grand Prize at the 64th edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.

The absurdist fantasy comedy portrays a married couple where the wife dies of a respiratory illness caused by dust pollution, and then returns to the grieving husband as a ghost in the form of a vacuum cleaner. The Thai feature picked up the Grand Prix Ami Paris trophy as awards for the Critics Week section in Cannes were announced on Wednesday. The film stars Davika Hoorne and Witsarut Himmarat.

Also, the French Touch Prize of the Jury for best first feature went to Chechen director Deni Oumar Pitsaev for Imago, a France-Belgium co-production. And the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for best actor went to Canada’s Theodore Pellerin for his performance in French director Pauline Loques’ Nino.

Grief and ghosts aren’t new territory for any national cinema — and this is perhaps particularly true of Thailand. But, “A Useful Ghost” is an entertaining and moving – if also somewhat sprawling – fable of love and loss that isn’t quite like anything you’ve seen before. The action in the Cannes Critics’ Week selection starts when a self-declared “Academic Ladyboy” (Wisarut Homhuan) buys a vacuum cleaner, only to discover that the appliance appears to be possessed. A hot repair guy (Wanlop Rungkumjud) then shows up, but this isn’t a porno. He’s there to introduce the main narrative: the tragic tale of the widower March (Witsarut Himmarat) lost in grief for his wife who has recently died of dust poisoning. It becomes apparent that the spouse is still very much present, albeit reincarnated in the form of a possessed vacuum cleaner.

From “Vertigo” to “Birth,” the idea of...

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s zany romantic drama A Useful Ghost has won the top prize at Cannes Critics’ Week.

The feature, which is the first Thai film to play in the parallel section for a number of years, won the inaugural Ami Paris Grand Prize.

This year’s jury was presided over by Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who was joined by Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah UK actor Daniel Kaluuya, Moroccan journalist Jihane Bougrine, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies and Indonesian producer Yulia Evina Bhara.

A Useful Ghost co-stars top Thai actress, model and influencer Davika Hoorne as Nat, a woman who dies of dust pollution and then returns as a ghost in the form of a vacuum cleaner, determined to save her family from a similar fate.

The feature, which is the first Thai film to play in the parallel section for a number of years,...

Unlike the logic-defying supernatural phenomena that drive its plot forward, Thai feature A Useful Ghost (Phi Chidi Kha) should not work, with its jarring shifts in tone and cray-cray mix of genres — and yet it does. Writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s feature debut, which premiered in the Critics’ Week sidebar at Cannes, writes its own rule book.

It starts off farcically with household and industrial appliances possessed by dead spirits seeking their still-living loved ones; morphs into nesting sets of surprisingly sincere love stories, some of them lustily queer; and ends with the dawn of a violent class war spanning both spiritual and earthly planes. Boonbunchachoke’s skillful toggling between comedy, melodrama and polemic helped to spark interest on the Croisette where camp Thai content goes over well. A long afterlife on the festival circuit awaits.

For all its playfulness, there’s an intellectual heft to A Useful Ghost that exerts its own gravity.

Imagine a vacuum cleaner that coughs up more than dust—a quiet intruder that brings a widow back to life through its whirring hoses. A Useful Ghost premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week as Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s striking debut, marking Thailand’s arrival on the supernatural-romance map.

At its heart is a framing device worthy of a narrative-driven indie game: an “Academic Ladyboy” orders a high-powered hoover to combat Bangkok’s choking dust, only to discover it’s haunted. The story then shifts to March, the grieving son of a factory matriarch, whose late wife Nat has returned as a sentient vacuum. Their reunion sparks a series of emotional and moral puzzles, as Nat uses her new form to cleanse lingering spirits born of workplace tragedy.

Tonally, the film oscillates between deadpan comedy and tender romance, punctuated by moments of social reckoning. Its humor feels as precise as a well-designed game...

A woman dies, only to return in the form of a vacuum cleaner to stay close to, and intimate with, her husband. Yes, you read that right! Thai writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s A Useful Ghost, world premiering in the Critics’ Week lineup in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, is a ghost story but also so much more.

After Nat dies from dust pollution, her husband, March, is consumed by grief. “His daily life is turned upside down when he discovers his wife’s spirit has been reincarnated in a vacuum cleaner,” reads the synopsis for the debut feature from Boonbunchachoke, who makes his living writing for TV and has made short films (Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall). “As absurd as it seems, their bond is rekindled, stronger than ever. But it is hardly to everyone’s liking. His family, still haunted by...

There’s a ghost in the machine in writer/director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s humorous and haunting gem of a feature debut “A Useful Ghost.” However, this is no mere twisty supernatural horror to be forced into neat genre classifications. It’s a work that flaunts all expectations with a disposition as gloriously and gracefully silly as it is incisive and illuminating.

For one thing, the machine in question is a humble vacuum cleaner and it is now being possessed by the wandering, lonely spirit of a woman desperately seeking to remain in the land of the living with her husband after she dies. For another, she is but one ghost of many who must grapple with the layered agonies of a world that cares not for those who get destroyed in the pursuit of power, wealth, and supposed “progress.” It’s with this supernatural conceit that the film playfully and...

While ghosts and spirits have long been the conduit for cinematic scares and jolts, from The Innocents to Poltergeist to The Ring, a relatively recent wave of films exploring the supernatural has been more concerned with the tangible, emotional effects these specters can have on the living. In that sense, a spiritual cousin to the likes of Uncle Boonmee, Personal Shopper, A Ghost Story, and Light from Light, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s directorial debut A Useful Ghost is a strange, tranquil, humorous exploration of the conundrums that would emerge were ghosts an accepted occurrence in everyday life, and what such phantoms could illuminate about the social and political troubles of modern Thailand and industrialization at large.

“Dust is a necessary evil. There is no progress without dust.” These early words set the stage for the rampant commercialization in the aim of increased profits that afflict the characters, both corporeal and phantasmic,...

Rich, complex films that can be crassly oversimplified because of a sex scene between a human and a machine have had a great run at Cannes in recent years. Now, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s directorial debut “A Useful Ghost” is ready to join the canon of one of the nichest arthouse subgenres of the 2020s.

Much like “Titane” before it, the early discourse around “A Useful Ghost” might revolve around an intimate love scene between a Thai man and a Shop-Vac that’s possessed by the ghost of his late wife. But like Julia Ducournau, Boonbunchachoke has made a darkly hilarious film that deserves to be remembered for much more than its shock value.

“A Useful Ghost” begins with a real contender for the best opening line of this year’s festival: “Mere particles of dust in the air changed my ladyboy life forever.” It’s a fittingly funny launch to...

We’ve seen movies about haunted houses, dolls, videotapes, and even cars, but the Thai film A Useful Ghost offers what might be the best haunted talisman yet. Feeling like a blend of Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Quentin Dupieux, A Useful Ghost is a movie that, on paper, sounds irreconcilably bizarre but actually has a surprising amount of heart beneath its silliness.

A Useful Ghost Review

A Useful Ghost might have one of the strangest, most unique concepts of the year: a man mourning his late wife discovers that she has returned as a possessed vacuum cleaner, setting off a strange series of events that come to involve a family of wealthy capitalists, a local politician, and an “academic ladyboy.” And while Boonbunchachoke’s feature debut certainly lives up to the strangeness of this premise, it also has deeper layers that allow it to stand out and be entirely memorable.

The...

A ghost-possessed vacuum cleaner might sound like standard horror fare, but in the hands of Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, it transforms into a sly commentary on pollution, power dynamics, and the cost of living crisis in Bangkok.

Boonbunchachoke’s debut feature, selected for Cannes Critics’ Week, marks Thailand’s return to the prestigious festival after a decade-long absence.

“I’m really excited. I’m very delighted, but also nervous as well, because it’s such a big event for me,” Boonbunchachoke tells Variety. “Critics’ Week is a very ideal platform for the film for the world to discover it.”

“A Useful Ghost” follows March, who is mourning his wife Nat after she dies from dust pollution. When her spirit returns by possessing a vacuum cleaner, their unconventional human-ghost relationship faces resistance from his family. To prove her worth and their love, Nat offers to cleanse a factory haunted by the...

There are many kinds of ghosts in Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s witty, cheeky A Useful Ghost. They range from avenging and embittered to pleasant, generous and helpful. The film makes a plea for ghosts not as rude interruptions but aiding presence who, however, might upset plans. When an ‘academic ladyboy’ (Wisarut Homhuan) has his vacuum cleaner acting up, coughing, he’s rattled. The repairman Krong (Wanlop Rungkumjud) arrives, bearing a string of stories around the haunted appliance. Beneath this frame narrative lies nestled a progressively wacky, deliriously charming concoction of events.

A family saga, threaded to the factory wherefrom the appliance came, rolls out. Suman (Apasiri Nitibhon), who now runs the factory after her husband’s death, is distraught over her persistently depressed son March (Witsarut Himmarat). He’s grappling with his wife Nat’s (a placid Davika Hoorne) death. When she returns as a ghost occupying a vacuum cleaner, he’s overjoyed.

There are many kinds of ghosts in Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s witty, cheeky A Useful Ghost. They range from avenging and embittered to pleasant, generous and helpful. The film makes a plea for ghosts not as rude interruptions but aiding presence who, however, might upset plans. When an ‘academic ladyboy’ (Wisarut Homhuan) has his vacuum cleaner acting up, coughing, he’s rattled. The repairman Krong (Wanlop Rungkumjud) arrives, bearing a string of stories around the haunted appliance. Beneath this frame narrative lies nestled a progressively wacky, deliriously charming concoction of events.

A family saga, threaded to the factory wherefrom the appliance came, rolls out. Suman (Apasiri Nitibhon), who now runs the factory after her husband’s death, is distraught over her persistently depressed son March (Witsarut Himmarat). He’s grappling with his wife Nat’s (a placid Davika Hoorne) death. When she returns as a ghost occupying a vacuum cleaner, he’s overjoyed.

“I’ve never been a vacuum cleaner before… it’s very out of my comfort zone,” says Thai model and actress Davika Hoorne on her role in Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s Cannes Critics’ Week title A Useful Ghost. She plays a woman who dies of dust pollution and then returns as a ghost in the form of a vacuum cleaner, determined to save her family from a similar fate.

“I had to get to know the vacuum cleaner, my partner,” says Hoorne, adding she put herself in the hands of the director to pull off the performance. “His picture was very clear. There was a bit of improv but mostly it was what he wanted.”

Related: ‘Sound Of Falling’ Review: Mascha Schilinski’s Superb Feature Is A Masterclass In Ethereal, Unnerving Brilliance – Cannes Film Festival

It is not the first time Hoorne—who is one of Thailand’s best-known actresses and...

Ghosts, like dust, get everywhere in Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s impressively unpredictable feature debut. They’re inside the machines in a literal sense but they also drift in and out of psychological spaces and express themselves as internal shadows. There’s ghosts of grief and ghosts of the national past all wrapped up in a spirited comedy. A film that rests on absurd humour but becomes increasingly poignant and satiric as it goes, it is not only ambitious – a term often used to damn films with faint praise – but successfully so, as the writer/director employs a story within a story device for his shaggy dog ghost tale.

Chief among the ghosts is Nat (Davika Hoorne). Once the wife of March (Wisarut Himmarat), her devout love for her husband means she’s not about to let a little thing like dying young get in the way of their relationship.

Her story is folded into a.

Exclusive: Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun has reunited with star Davika Hoorne for psychological horror Inherit, which Gdh 559 is pre-selling at the Cannes market.

Davika from Banjong’s 2013 smash hit Pee Mak plays Grandma Woranart, an 80-year-old grandmother who suddenly returns looking like a woman in her 30s after having disappeared for half a century. But her return brings terrifying hauntings to her family, with her 18-year-old granddaughter destined as the next heir to the demon. A first look at Hoorne in a promotional image for the film can be seen above.

The story is based on a classic Thai novel,...

A spirit possesses a vacuum cleaner in A Useful Ghost, a Thai film that combines supernatural fantasy, dark comedy, and romantic drama.

Writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke makes his feature debut on the international co-production between Thailand, France, Singapore, and Germany.

March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing the vacuum cleaner. Being disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker’s death shut down their factory, his family reject the unconventional human-ghost relationship.

Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offers to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones.

Davika Hoorne (Pee Mak) and Witsarut Himmarat star with Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjad, and Wisarut Homhuan.

Belgium-based Best Friends Forever is handling international sales at Critics’ Week at Cannes this month.

The post ‘A Useful Ghost...

Brussels-based company company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights to “A Useful Ghost” ahead of its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.

“A Useful Ghost” marks the feature debut of Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke who previously directed the short film “Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall” which competed at Locarno in 2020.

The film tells the story of March, who is mourning his wife Nat after she dies due to dust pollution. When he discovers that her spirit has unexpectedly returned in the form of a vacuum cleaner, he embrasses it and the pair form an unconventional human-ghost love story. But March’s family, which has seen their factory turned upside down by the ghost of a former employee, rejects the relationship. Eager to convince the family of her and March’s love, Nat sets off to become a useful ghost and offers to cleanse the factory.

“Despite...

Alia Bhatt’s ascent to global stardom continues as she captivates audiences not just in India but also on the international stage. The Bollywood sensation, who made her Hollywood debut last year, has been making waves with her recent appearances at prestigious events like the Met Gala 2024 and a high-profile fashion show in London.

At the luxury house Gucci’s Cruise 2025 show on May 13, Alia graced the front row at the Tate Modern in London, stunning in a wine-colored bodycon dress that perfectly showcased her style prowess. With her makeup kept subtle yet striking, featuring dark wine lipstick stealing the spotlight, and her hair elegantly styled in a ponytail, Alia exuded effortless sophistication.

But it wasn’t just her impeccable fashion sense that turned heads. Alia was spotted rubbing shoulders with renowned personalities like American actress Demi Moore and singer-actress Debbie Harry in the star-studded front row. Alongside them were...

Bright Vachirawit is a rising star in the Thai entertainment industry, moving from TV shows to lead roles in movies. He showcases his talent and charisma in various genres, from romantic comedies to psychological mysteries. Bright's performances in popular series have helped him gain international recognition and a dedicated fan base.

Vachirawit Chivaaree, known professionally as Bright Vachirawit, is a Thai actor, singer, and businessman who has quickly become one of the most popular actors to come out of the country. Bright began his career appearing in music videos before moving into more long-form acting, primarily in TV shows. However, the 2020s have also seen him playing lead characters in notable movies. The upcoming April 2024 film Love You To Debt an example of his growing presence in the entertainment industry, not just as a TV drama actor but a major movie star.

The Thai film and TV industry is perhaps...

6ixtynin9: The Series brilliantly captures the idea that life can sometimes force us into uncertain decisions, blurring the lines between right and wrong until we’re knee-deep in a mess we can’t easily clean up. The series kicks off with a bang, when the protagonist, Toom, discovers a box brimming with cash at her doorstep. What follows is a rollercoaster of moral dilemmas and choices that shape the lives of the characters involved.

Throughout the series, a motley crew of characters enters the fray, each with their own motivations and desires for the money. As their lives become increasingly entangled, 6ixtynin9: The Series evolves into a dark comedy thriller that keeps viewers guessing. The show deftly explores the consequences of greed and desperation, and the lengths people will go to to secure their own futures. It’s a masterclass in storytelling, with well-crafted characters and unexpected plot...

Toom is the heart and soul of 6ixtynin9: The Series. She’s portrayed by Davika Hoorne, who gained fame for her role in the popular Thai film Heart Attack. Toom’s character really shines in this series, and you’ll find yourself drawn to the way she tackles all the challenges that come her way, no matter how tough they get. She’s a character you can’t help but root for, as she navigates the twists and turns of the story.

Spoilers Ahead

Toom’s Life Challenges

Toom’s story is quite something. She’s a hardworking person, you know, the kind who goes above and beyond, at the Thanachat Insurance Company. In fact, she’s even been named the employee of the year, all thanks to her impressive work skills. But here’s the thing about Toom: She’s a bit of a quiet soul. She doesn...

Mirror singer and actor Anson Lo has joined the cast of Bizhan Tong’s upcoming action thriller Chungking Mansions. Billed as Hong Kong’s biggest zombie film ever, the Phoenix Waters Productions pic, in co-production with Amm Global and Salon Films Japan, has also added Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korea’s Choi Si-Hun and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung.

They join previously announced cast members including Japanese action star Rina Takeda and Singapore’s Desmond Tan and Rebecca Lim.

Chungking Mansions tells the story of a disparate group of people from across the globe who must climb the iconic Chungking Mansions building amidst a zombie outbreak in Hong Kong. Centered around an American seeking to rescue his pregnant wife, the action moves between people of all nationalities across the city who are undergoing their own journeys to survive.

Lo, who became the most Googled Hong Kong...

Upcoming action thriller to be sold at Filmart.

Hong Kong singer Anson Lo has joined the cast of Bizhan Tong’s upcoming zombie thriller Chungking Mansions, which is being discussed with buyers at Filmart Online this week.

Lo is a member of popular boyband Mirror and previously starred in hit Bl series Ossan’s Love.

Further additions to the cast include Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korean star Choi Si-Hun, and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung. Davika Hoorne, known for Pee Mak, Thailand’s highest grossing film of all time, also joins the cast, taking over a...

Anson Lo, part of Hong Kong pop sensation Mirror, has joined the cast of “Chungking Mansions,” an ambitious zombie film that is currently in advanced preparation.

Alongside Lo, Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korean star Choi Si-Hun, and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung join the previously announced Japanese action star Rina Takeda and Singaporean actors Desmond Tan and Rebecca Lim.

Davika Hoorne, who previously starred in “Pee Mak,” Thailand’s highest grossing film of all time, will also join. She takes over a role previously assigned to Angel Locsin as the assistant to the American protagonist’s pregnant wife.

Directed by banker turned producer and director Bizhan Tong (“The Escort”), the film tracks a diverse group of people who, following a zombie attack, try to break into Chungking Mansions. The labyrinthine building was made famous in Wong Kar-wai’s “Chungking Express” and is arguably the richest cultural...

Young Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s latest film finds him back on his familiar ground of arty, quirky kids and young professionals seen in his “36” (2012) and “Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy” (2013), and this time the alchemy is almost perfect. “Heart Attack” has been a pleasant surprise for both public and critics, earning box office success and few awards.

30-year-old Yoon is a freelance graphic designer and Photoshop retoucher. Undeniably, he is damn good and incredibly committed, but he is also trapped in the typical loop of working-hard-and-never-turning-down-a-job for fear of being left out and losing connections. Yoon spends most of his days and nights in his room, in front of a Mac, and in this tiny world, there is no room for leisure or friends, left alone sleep. His proud and joy is in fact the ability of going without sleeping for up to 5 days, in...

For 10 years, Five Flavours Film Festival has been presenting the best cinema from Asia, its meanings and contexts. Initially, the Festival focused solely on Vietnamese films, but it evolved to become a yearly review of the cinema of East and Southeast Asia, the only such event in the country.

The 10th edition is held in Warsaw, on November 16-23 (Muranów and Kinoteka cinemas), and in Wrocław on November 18-24 (New Horizons Cinema).

This year’s edition of Five Flavours is the biggest in history – it presents over 40 productions. The program combines artistic and commercial cinema, allowing the audience to experience the best Asian films have to offer. On the one hand, there are the intimate stories with a social angle, on the other – fresh, innovative blockbusters, filled with the sheer joy of cinematic creation, attracting millions of viewers in their homelands.

Three

This diversity is already visible in the choice...