A Useful Ghost

The debut feature from 35-year-old Thai filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, A Useful Ghost, has defied conventional cinematic expectations, earning critical acclaim and a Grand Prix at the Cannes Critics’ Week. While its premise might initially suggest a raucous sex comedy – featuring a scene where a mother discovers her son engaged in an intimate act with a vacuum cleaner possessed by a horny spirit named Nat – the film is, in fact, a sophisticated political satire interwoven with profound philosophical musings and tender queer romances. The Los Angeles Times has already heralded Boonbunchachoke as a potential successor to Yorgos Lanthimos, a testament to the film’s bold and unconventional narrative approach.

The genesis of A Useful Ghost lies in a creative evolution that saw Boonbunchachoke grapple with the visual representation of his spectral characters. "In the first few drafts, the ghost returns in human form," Boonbunchachoke explained during a recent virtual interview from Bangkok. "I thought it could be an actor with grey paint on their body, but people told me it’d look like a zombie." The narrative was already deeply entwined with the issue of dust pollution, a pressing environmental concern in Thailand, which Boonbunchachoke also employs as a potent metaphor for the government’s erasure of historical monuments commemorating the 1932 revolution. It was this thematic confluence that led to the film’s distinctive spectral manifestation. "It made sense that if someone returned and possessed an electrical appliance, it would be a vacuum cleaner," he stated, admitting his initial apprehension about presenting this unconventional idea to his producer.

From Metaphor to Manifestation: The Birth of a Haunted Hoover

The film’s narrative structure is deliberately intricate, weaving together multiple storylines where the deceased manifest as everyday cleaning appliances. One such arc introduces an "academic ladyboy," as he is credited, who notices his vacuum cleaner exhibiting peculiar coughing fits. This leads him to enlist the services of a repairman, Krong (played by Wanlop Rungkumjad), who reveals the appliance to be haunted by the spirit of a deceased factory worker. The academic’s fascination is piqued not only by the supernatural phenomenon but also by the proximity of a "hunky gay guy" to his living quarters, hinting at the film’s exploration of burgeoning queer relationships within its surreal framework.

Within this narrative, Krong recounts the tragic tale of an electronics factory that was forced to close due to a high mortality rate among its employees, who succumbed to dust pollution and subsequently haunted the premises through various machinery. The pivotal figure in this spectral uprising is Tok, an employee whose death, directly attributed to his working conditions, unleashes spectral chaos within the factory. An inspector’s dismissive remark, "a ghost is less hygienic than a speck of dust," underscores the film’s critique of industrial negligence and the dehumanization of labor. In stark contrast, Nat (portrayed by celebrated Thai celebrity Davika Hoorne), a ghost who yearns to rekindle her relationship with her human partner, March (Witsarut Himmarat), finds herself in a precarious position. To appease March’s disapproving mother, Suman (Apasiri Nitibhon), the heir to her late husband’s factory, Nat pledges to help cleanse the building of rebellious spirits. This plot point highlights a critical thematic element: a haunted vacuum cleaner, a symbol of the oppressed, paradoxically offers its services to the oppressor, revealing the complex power dynamics at play.

Political Undercurrents and Cultural Resonance

Boonbunchachoke explicitly connects the film’s spectral revenge motifs to Thai cultural beliefs. "It’s in Thai culture that ghosts come back for revenge," he noted. "I wanted to make it more political. They take revenge as a collective, not for personal reasons." This political dimension is further amplified through direct allusions to the People’s Party Declaration and the tragic 1976 massacre at Thammasat University. However, Boonbunchachoke clarifies that these references serve a broader purpose: "But the film’s not about those two specific incidents. I wanted to talk about the political victims in Thai modern history in general."

The film has drawn comparisons to the works of John Waters and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, an association Boonbunchachoke regards with a degree of ambivalence. While he admires Waters’ oeuvre, he doesn’t perceive a direct influence. Weerasethakul, a "Thai master," is a frequent touchstone for young Thai filmmakers, a label Boonbunchachoke finds potentially limiting. Instead, he offers an alternative descriptor for his film’s aesthetic: "elegantly perverted and perversely elegant," a directive he impressed upon his cinematographer and production designer during pre-production.

A Trojan Horse of Subversion

The audience’s reaction to A Useful Ghost has been a source of delight for Boonbunchachoke, who relishes the element of surprise. He describes the film as a "Trojan horse," intentionally designed to disarm viewers expecting a straightforward sex farce and instead drawing them into discussions about political dissent. "It’s been called a Trojan horse," he admitted, acknowledging the film’s potentially divisive nature. At the London Film Festival, where this reporter witnessed a sold-out screening, A Useful Ghost was met with enthusiastic reception. Despite its critical success and widespread distribution across Europe, including Iceland, the film has yet to secure a UK distributor, a fact that perplexes the director.

Boonbunchachoke’s cinematic journey began with a notable breakthrough in 2020 with his 30-minute spy thriller, Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall, which centered on a transgender sex worker. Eschewing commercial appeal, this earlier work established his commitment to exploring marginalized narratives. Reflecting on the pervasive popularity of "Boys Love" (BL) dramas in Thailand, Boonbunchachoke, a member of the queer community, identifies a significant gap in authentic representation. "BL dramas are everywhere in Thailand. If you turn on the TV, there’s a new BL drama. But it means that gay characters are confined to romantic relationships," he observed. "I want to see queer characters in other genres. You couldn’t imagine One Battle After Another or Sinners but queer. Krong and Academic Ladyboy could’ve been a straight couple, but I wanted to make them gay. I don’t want to justify my choice. They’re queer. That’s all."

Queer Dynamics Beyond Human Form

Boonbunchachoke posits that even the ostensibly heterosexual relationship between Nat and March, when viewed through the lens of their human-and-hoover dynamic, takes on a queer dimension. He draws parallels to Thai folklore, which abounds with tales of human-non-human unions, such as serpent women or tiger men. These narratives, he argues, are inherently queer due to the inherent separation of the couple from societal norms. "In Thailand, we have lots of folktales about human and non-human relationships… They’re queer, because the couple end up separated from the community. [Nat and March’s] human-ghost relationship resembles an LGBT relationship."

The title itself, A Useful Ghost, carries a significant cultural weight, alluding to a common Thai adage that encourages queer individuals to be "useful to society" if they wish to be accepted. Boonbunchachoke explains, "Thailand is known for being LGBT-friendly. But there’s a cliché in Thailand: if you’re the parent of a queer child, you tell them they can be gay as long as you are useful to society. I grew up listening to this saying. I’m fascinated by this conditional love. So it’s a layer of queerness: ‘You can be a ghost as long as you are useful to society.’"

A Ghostly Metaphor for Protest and Progress

Furthermore, the film employs the concept of ghosts as a potent metaphor for young protesters. By invoking the possibility of past revolutions, they aim to inspire the overthrow of present and future oppressive regimes. Boonbunchachoke penned the script in 2020, a period of relative optimism amidst an authoritarian government, where activists "weaponised the past to say that an alternative reality was possible." However, he notes with concern a recent societal regression, even under a democratically elected government. "When there were protests, they spoke in public about topics that were considered forbidden. They said it out loud! But now the situation has reversed. There are lots of things we can’t talk about in public anymore."

Prior to embarking on the festival circuit with A Useful Ghost, Boonbunchachoke sustained himself by writing television dramas, a role he describes as primarily client-driven rather than an outlet for personal artistic expression. His directorial work, however, is a distinct endeavor. He is currently developing his second feature film and intends to continue writing his own directorial projects for the foreseeable future. "Maybe I should pick up a TV writing job again, because I’m running out of money," he remarked with a laugh. "I want to establish my identity as a filmmaker. At least the first three films, I want to write myself. After that? Maybe I’ll move to a new phase of my life where I’m like, ‘OK, I want to have lots of money. I’ll make something more commercial.’"

A Useful Ghost screens at Barbican Cinema on May 20 as part of the Queer East Festival, which runs from May 1 to June 6 across various venues in London. Further details are available at www.queereast.org.uk.