bad genius movie review

Film Review: ‘Bad Genius’

Entertaining youth drama that makes exam cheating a trenchant social metaphor is a class act.

By Maggie Lee

Chief Asia Film Critic

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Dramatizing the clever capers of Thai high school kids who formed an exam-cheating syndicate, “ Bad Genius ” deserves full marks for a whip-smart script that makes answering multiple-choice questions as nail-biting and entertaining as “Ocean’s Eleven.” Produced by blockbuster powerhouse GHD (formerly GTH), the film is executed with that studio’s trademark technical slickness and hip style, but director Nattawut Poonpiriya (“Countdown”) also offers subtle yet stinging insight into Thailand’s class inequalities and corrupt school system.

By turning his nerdy egghead protagonists into hustler heroes, Poonpiriya calls out Asia’s rote-learning and grades-obsessed academic culture. The film, which rocked domestic box office and sold all across Asia, is screaming for a remake — and could well get noticed in the west after premiering stateside at the New York Asian Film Festival .

The film begins with a fait accompli: Exam papers of the Standard Test for International Colleges (STIC) have been leaked across several Asian countries. The student suspects’ testimonies serve as a framing device throughout the film as more is revealed about their background and motives.

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The central figure is Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying), an unflappable math prodigy who has an answer for every question. During her entrance interview for Bangkok’s most elite private school — at which her teacher dad (Thaneth Warakuklnukroh) eagerly brandishes an armful of trophies she’s won — the self-confident young lady plays hard to get by rattling off all the expenses of studying like a math formula until the principal offers her a full scholarship.

Lynn may be a know-it-all, but she has zero social skills. On enrollment day, Grace (Eisaya Hosuwan), the class flirt, is the only one who befriends her. It becomes her one soft spot, so when Grace begs her to help her pass an important test, she can’t resist, resulting in a breathtaking stunt improvised with eraser and shoe.

Once she gets her hands dirty, there’s no going back, especially after Grace’s opportunistic boyfriend Pat (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) smells the money in it and spins a lucrative franchise around her. The cheating formula they come up with – an integration of Morse Code with classical piano concertos – is so ingenious it could inspire copycats at school, and is absolutely hilarious to see unfold onscreen.

The plot thickens when Lynn finally meets her match, or nemesis, with the arrival of Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul), another straight-A student who not only steals her thunder at a national quiz, but also competes with her for a coveted college scholarship in Singapore.

“Bad Genius” supplies a fresh angle to the frenemy formula as Lynn and Bank clash on intellectual as well as ethical grounds, while awkwardly falling for one another as only geeks can. By the time the two take off to Sydney for the STIC test, the richly layered screenplay has stacked up enormous stakes through a complex web of motives, from money and misguided loyalty to one-upmanship and the urge to kick against the educational establishment.

Their game plan, masterminded by Lynn and executed by Pat, Grace and a contingent of desperate students, is as elaborate as a heist, featuring gizmos that wouldn’t look out of place in a “Mission: Impossible” movie. Like any heist film, there are the unanticipated glitches — these happen in a toilet, shot in wacky, inventive angles by DP Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun, and culminate in a subway chase that’s choreographed and paced like a crime thriller.

Even if the setup is not totally convincing, at least it offers students a sweet fantasy. At the same time, the shenanigans underline a rigged social system that privileges the rich from childhood. Sitting the exams is always presented as a nerve-racking experience for Lynn and Bank, whose talents or diligence are funneled into serving the lazy or dumb brats whose parents can afford to pay. The film also alludes to schools’ corrupt practices of charging “tea money” for students who can’t make the grades, as the homeroom teacher provides cheat sheets to pupils who pay for his after-school tutorials.

The screenplay shrewdly drawing out protagonists’ personality and class differences, including Pat’s hereditary enterprising instincts and knack for using people, or Grace’s subtle emotional blackmail of Lynn (that she’s the diva of the school drama club leads one to question whether her friendship with Lynn is just a performance).

By contrast, Lynn and Bank have the brains but not the socially groomed cunning of their classmates. So it is especially saddening to see Bank’s loss of innocence, when he eventually realizes that even getting top grades and going to a good university can only get one so far without family wealth and connections. And it’s the subtler class distinctions between them, and the fact that Lynn is intellectually gifted while Bank only has a photographic memory, that chip away at their feelings for each.

The young cast burst with energy and have great comic timing. Teen model Chuengcharoensukying makes an eye-catching screen debut, radically transforming from square, gawky teacher’s pet to anti-social rebel to finally making peace with who she is or wants to be, while Warakuklnukroh (“Pop Aye”) is a warm and nurturing presence as her sad-sack father.

Reviewed at Paragon Cinema, Bangkok, May 3, 2017. (In New York Asian Film Festival — opener.) Running time: 129 MIN. (Original title: “Chalard Games Goeng”)

• Production: (Thailand) A GDH 559 (in Thailand) release of a Jorkwang Films  production. (International sales: GDH 559, Bangkok.) Producers: Jira Maligool, Vanridee Pongsittisak, Suwimon Techasupinan, Chenchonnee Soonthonsaratul, Weerachai Yaikwawong. Executive producers: Jina Osothsilp, Boosaba Daorueng, Paiboon Damrongchaitham.
• Crew: Director: Nattawut Poonpiriya. Screenplay: Poonpiriya, Tanida Hantaweewatana, Vasudhorn Piyaromna. Camera (color, widescreen): Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun. Editor: Chonlasit Upanigkit. Music: Hualampong Riddim, Vichaya Vatanasapt.
• With: Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Eisaya Hosuwan, Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Chanon Santinatornkul, Thaneth Warakuklnukroh, Sarinrat Thomas, Ego. (Thai, English dialogue)

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Film Review— Chalat Kem Kong (Bad Genius)

Film Title: Chalat Kem Kong ( ฉลาดเกมส์โกง ; Bad Genius) Director: Nattawut Poonpiriya (นัฐวุฒิ พูนพิริยะ)

The Moral Dilemma

The Thai movie industry has been in crisis over the past few years in terms of revenue, quality and lack of variety. Box Office receipts offer clear evidence that Thai movies can hardly turn a profit. Most turnover less than 10 million baht in revenue, the minimum needed to cover basic production costs. One may argue that Thai audiences have lost faith in their local product. With a challenging economy at home, audiences will not risk pricey cinema tickets whereas top Hollywood movies are a safer bet. Thai movie-makers are struggling for solutions to this crisis. Some have moved to a new movie-making model by focusing on local people’s interests to attract rural audiences. Some chose the simplest solution by making glossy-looking movies to attract the urban middle-class teen audience. Bad Genius illustrates the popularity of this genre.    

Behind the success of Bad Genius is GDH 559 Studio with is currently the hottest studio in Thailand. It has a huge fan base of mostly middle class teens and it employs a number of celebrated directors and performers. Generally, the studio excels in the ‘feel good’ genre therefore it came as a big surprise that it got behind a ‘thriller’, usually not considered a money-maker in Thai cinema. The success this endeavour has seen could bring some changes to Thai cinema. Turning things around, Nattawut Poonpiriya, the director of Bad Genius , came good following the critical and box office failure of  Countdown (เคาท์ดาวน์) in 2012. In Bad Genius, he focuses on the thriller genre and works in the issue of ‘moral dilemma’ as the theme of the movie.

Bad Genius portraits a story of Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying), a female student who was the top student of her school. Grace (Lynn’s close friend) asked her for answers during a school’s exam. When Pat, Grace’s rich boyfriend, found out, he had the idea to start an exam cheating business with Lynn’s consent. Naturally gifted, Lynn could easily answer exams questions and funnel these answers to fellow students, their ‘customers’. The business was a hit and Pat wanted to cheat in an international test called STIC. This time, Lynn needed help from another genius student, Lynn’s educational nemesis, named Bank. How might Lynn persuade him to assist her in this challenging ‘business project’ since Bank was an honest student who abhorred cheats?

The most interesting part of Bad Genius  is in how the cheating plays out like a heist movie in the thriller genre. Director Nattawut moves the narrative along with a fast-paced dynamic tone that might be compared to the casino robbery in Hollywood’s Ocean’s Eleven . Although the design of the situation seems unreasonably surreal, the cheating seems to take place for pure entertainment’s sake. The director’s experiences in advertising and music videos is reflected in the movie’s striking cinematic techniques. The production values are up there with Hollywood standards and it suits the thriller genre perfectly. Furthermore, the cast, particularly the skills of the leading performers, are above those normally seen in Thai cinema and they bring the narrative alive.

However, there are also flaws in the over-stylisation. At times, scenes can become too gimmicky and they lose authenticity. In addition, some symbolic aspects of the movie are too obviously expressed, like in the overly cinematic language which brings an unrealistic edge, especially in the execution of the last scene.  

This movie might not criticise the Thai educational system directly but its story clearly reflects perennial problems in the Thai system. Similar to many countries in Asia, the capability of Thai students is not measured by their application of knowledge but by their memorisation ability. We do not go to school to learn things useful for our lives, but we go to take tests for scores that, supposedly, will guide our ‘future’. After exams, this knowledge expires leaving few real-world skills. The teenagers in this movie do not play by the book, however, they still serve the society’s system that judges students by their “excellent scores”.

One interesting aspect of the story is the crucial element of money in education. Showing no guilt, Lynn chose to cheat with no guilt in exchange for “money”, something that she did not have before. The movie shows socio-economic inequalities as Lynn had to fight hard for a scholarship to study abroad while Grace and Pat’s rich family could easily secure their seats overseas. Lynn felt that her life was a fraud from the start so she cheated without guilt. The movie may reflect Thai society in a thoughtful way but there was a shallow twist in the story allowing the ending to comply with the Country’s high morals as the standard bearer under the Thai governing junta. Unfortunately, the twist at the end shows a lack of credibility, and worse, imagination. Bad Genius would have been more memorable if it left audiences with the opportunity to think about the moral dilemma it poses.

Let’s get back to the success factors of this movie for the Thai Box Office. At present, cinema visits are considered as entertainment for the urban middle-class, especially as ticket prices are almost impossible for the working class to afford. Middle-class audiences have fussy tastes and the privilege to choose which movies they want to see. Bad Genius fits the bill as it fulfils this middle-class expectation. Beyond that, we will see how Thai movie-makers develop new approaches and put more effort into keeping the Thai movie industry alive by serving the keep-changing taste of the urban middle-class.

Reviewed by Pass Pattanakumjon (ภาส พัฒนกำจร)

For you guys, what should have been the ending of this film?

The ending is perfectly executed as it is. It gives an opportunity for making a part 2 of the movie. It is well thought and it gives room for people to create their own ending. It enhances the creative mind to explore what is beyond the storyline. Definitely the movie is becoming one of my favorites! 🙂

I agree to most point. The movie itself is very clean in execution and dramatic. They can improve the ending tho, because Lynn turnaround were not very convincing. Lynn main reason to cheat was because she needed money (motive 1), want to be independent (even not in the straight way, motive 2) and “life cheats you anyway” philosophy (motive 3).

That’s why when she exposed once, it was make sense why she still doing her thing.

The hurdle and obstacles she had during STIC, while over-the-top difficult, supposedly not related to any of her motives. Found Bank being compromised and expelled didn’t betray her motives. They knew the risk (the interrogation training, 3rd motive) and with the money, they can study in other school anyway (2nd motive). And they successfully got the money (1st motive)

In my opinion, while the ending giving the best course possible, morally. It’s not convincing enough why she did it. She never even portrayed having moral dillema before the ending

Otherwise, the movie itself is one of the best Thai movie I ever seen. Brilliant and astonishing

Thanks for your comment.

Comments are closed.

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‘Bad Genius’ review: Almost a perfect score

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Nattawut Poonpiriya’s Bad Genius has the unlikeliest of premises for a taut and thrilling caper.

The criminals here are high-schoolers gifted in both academics and the creation of elaborate schemes for financial gain. The crime – cheating in examinations. Improbable as it may seem, the film commits to its conceit and ends up becoming not just immensely entertaining but also sublimely germane.

Escalating stakes

Don’t get me wrong.

Bad Genius isn’t a film that grants what really is child’s play a sardonic grown-up treatment. While Poonpiriya stylizes the act of answering multiple choice questions to rightfully add more than just a whiff of tension to what essentially are really dull proceedings, the film doesn’t stop at simply inflecting itself with gratuitous genre trappings all for the sake of surface-level novelty.

The stakes actually escalate, with the film graduating from portraying two dear friends exchanging answers to a complicated and very risky operation that exploits each and every loophole in the system to get the impossible done. By exploring the experiences of a gifted daughter (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) of a lowly teacher who finds herself surrounded by privileged spoiled brats, the film maps a profound journey of hopeful students compromising their malleable morality to suit the demands of an already compromised society.

What is most fascinating about Bad Genius is that it doesn’t let its social observations get in the way of its pop aspirations. The film bursts with apt humor and firm drama. It definitely earns its unique pleasures by focusing on shaping its characters to be boldly capable of social malice but still worth all the emotional investment.

Moral murkiness

The film banks on the moral murkiness that pervades a youth that has become so obsessed with success, with one-upping the generations that preceded them, with the fear of stagnancy.

Cleverly designed to start out innocently before plunging head first into territories that test virtues and integrities, Bad Genius excites not just because of its worthwhile ornaments but because it portrays children with a mature understanding of consequence.

This is a film that says a lot about social inequity and how it breeds corruption within fertile and imaginative minds. It navigates the growth of greed, subtly lamenting, despite its abundance of wit and drollery, how meritocracy in this age of stark injustices seems to be a myth.

The film’s ending, which sadly reeks of a cursory effort to whitewash an enduring portrayal of wayward youth, offers a belated ray of hope but feels out of place. Bad Genius works because it doesn’t commit judgments toward its conflicted anti-heroes and their proclivity for high-stakes misdemeanors. So when the film decides to abandon the intriguing murk and allow its characters a moment for their conventional conscience to decide the film’s penultimate statement, it feels like a bad turn.  

Confident and astounding

Nevertheless, Bad Genius is astounding. It is an authentic crowd-pleaser that doesn’t allow itself to be complacent with its ingenuities. Its confident subversions of the genre are all noteworthy, all grounded on depth rather than shallow artifice. – Rappler.com

F rancis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ ‘Tirad Pass.’ Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.  

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Lynn, a genius high school student who makes money by cheating tests, receives a new task that leads her to set foot on Sydney, Australia. In order to complete the millions-Baht task, Lynn a... Read all Lynn, a genius high school student who makes money by cheating tests, receives a new task that leads her to set foot on Sydney, Australia. In order to complete the millions-Baht task, Lynn and her classmates have to finish the international STIC(SAT) exam and deliver the answers ... Read all Lynn, a genius high school student who makes money by cheating tests, receives a new task that leads her to set foot on Sydney, Australia. In order to complete the millions-Baht task, Lynn and her classmates have to finish the international STIC(SAT) exam and deliver the answers back to her friends in Thailand before the exam takes place once again in her home country... Read all

• Baz Poonpiriya
• Tanida Hantaweewatana
• Vasudhorn Piyaromna
• Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying
• Eisaya Hosuwan
• Teeradon Supapunpinyo
• 106 User reviews
• 48 Critic reviews
• 21 wins & 10 nominations

• Lynn's father
• Headmistress

• STIC Supervisor

• Pat's father
• Pat's mother
• Exam Proctor

• Pat's friend
• STIC client
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia In the movie, Lynn is left-handed on purpose towards the believe that left-handed people are smarter. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying (Lynn) must practice in writing hard since she's actually right-handed.

Lynn : If you don't cheat,life will cheat on you.

• Connections Featured in De Kijk van Koolhoven: Coming of Age (2022)

User reviews 106

• Sep 5, 2019
• How long is Bad Genius? Powered by Alexa
• May 3, 2017 (Thailand)
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• Bangkok, Thailand
• Jorkwang Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• THB 60,000,000 (estimated)
• $44,560,421

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• Runtime 2 hours 10 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Film Review: ‘Bad Genius’

Dramatizing the clever capers of Thai high school kids who formed an exam-cheating syndicate, “ Bad Genius ” deserves full marks for a whip-smart script that makes answering multiple-choice questions as nail-biting and entertaining as “Ocean’s Eleven.” Produced by blockbuster powerhouse GHD (formerly GTH), the film is executed with that studio’s trademark technical slickness and hip style, but director Nattawut Poonpiriya (“Countdown”) also offers subtle yet stinging insight into Thailand’s class inequalities and corrupt school system.

By turning his nerdy egghead protagonists into hustler heroes, Poonpiriya calls out Asia’s rote-learning and grades-obsessed academic culture. The film, which rocked domestic box office and sold all across Asia, is screaming for a remake — and could well get noticed in the west after premiering stateside at the New York Asian Film Festival .

The film begins with a fait accompli: Exam papers of the Standard Test for International Colleges (STIC) have been leaked across several Asian countries. The student suspects’ testimonies serve as a framing device throughout the film as more is revealed about their background and motives.

The central figure is Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying), an unflappable math prodigy who has an answer for every question. During her entrance interview for Bangkok’s most elite private school — at which her teacher dad (Thaneth Warakuklnukroh) eagerly brandishes an armful of trophies she’s won — the self-confident young lady plays hard to get by rattling off all the expenses of studying like a math formula until the principal offers her a full scholarship.

Lynn may be a know-it-all, but she has zero social skills. On enrollment day, Grace (Eisaya Hosuwan), the class flirt, is the only one who befriends her. It becomes her one soft spot, so when Grace begs her to help her pass an important test, she can’t resist, resulting in a breathtaking stunt improvised with eraser and shoe.

Once she gets her hands dirty, there’s no going back, especially after Grace’s opportunistic boyfriend Pat (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) smells the money in it and spins a lucrative franchise around her. The cheating formula they come up with – an integration of Morse Code with classical piano concertos – is so ingenious it could inspire copycats at school, and is absolutely hilarious to see unfold onscreen.

The plot thickens when Lynn finally meets her match, or nemesis, with the arrival of Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul), another straight-A student who not only steals her thunder at a national quiz, but also competes with her for a coveted college scholarship in Singapore.

“Bad Genius” supplies a fresh angle to the frenemy formula as Lynn and Bank clash on intellectual as well as ethical grounds, while awkwardly falling for one another as only geeks can. By the time the two take off to Sydney for the STIC test, the richly layered screenplay has stacked up enormous stakes through a complex web of motives, from money and misguided loyalty to one-upmanship and the urge to kick against the educational establishment.

Their game plan, masterminded by Lynn and executed by Pat, Grace and a contingent of desperate students, is as elaborate as a heist, featuring gizmos that wouldn’t look out of place in a “Mission: Impossible” movie. Like any heist film, there are the unanticipated glitches — these happen in a toilet, shot in wacky, inventive angles by DP Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun, and culminate in a subway chase that’s choreographed and paced like a crime thriller.

Even if the setup is not totally convincing, at least it offers students a sweet fantasy. At the same time, the shenanigans underline a rigged social system that privileges the rich from childhood. Sitting the exams is always presented as a nerve-racking experience for Lynn and Bank, whose talents or diligence are funneled into serving the lazy or dumb brats whose parents can afford to pay. The film also alludes to schools’ corrupt practices of charging “tea money” for students who can’t make the grades, as the homeroom teacher provides cheat sheets to pupils who pay for his after-school tutorials.

The screenplay shrewdly drawing out protagonists’ personality and class differences, including Pat’s hereditary enterprising instincts and knack for using people, or Grace’s subtle emotional blackmail of Lynn (that she’s the diva of the school drama club leads one to question whether her friendship with Lynn is just a performance).

By contrast, Lynn and Bank have the brains but not the socially groomed cunning of their classmates. So it is especially saddening to see Bank’s loss of innocence, when he eventually realizes that even getting top grades and going to a good university can only get one so far without family wealth and connections. And it’s the subtler class distinctions between them, and the fact that Lynn is intellectually gifted while Bank only has a photographic memory, that chip away at their feelings for each.

The young cast burst with energy and have great comic timing. Teen model Chuengcharoensukying makes an eye-catching screen debut, radically transforming from square, gawky teacher’s pet to anti-social rebel to finally making peace with who she is or wants to be, while Warakuklnukroh (“Pop Aye”) is a warm and nurturing presence as her sad-sack father.

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Bad Genius (2017) - movie review

Foreign Movie When an award-winning foreign movie hits the mainstream in the Philippines, it can only be one thing - this is the best movie currently shown in the country of origin and it's so good, it's making its round on the global stage. It must be worth seeing!

Storyline A brilliant student helps her classmates pass an entrance exam for money. This leads to a more daring and more articulated cheating plan for a more prestigious global exam.

Editing The plot is fairly simple - students get caught while cheating. But the way the movie was developed, it could rival the riveting suspense of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Think about shading a multiple choice answer - a? b? c? or d? How boring is that for cinematography? But the clever editing made it look like a gripping spy thriller - the panning on the clock, perspiration running down her face, shading the answers, staccato musical backdrop, etc. It was pure genius to make it work.

Cheating Plot Another innovative approach is the cheating plot. Every student probably had a cheating episode once or twice during their student days, right? We have seen many ways of cheating. But how this cheating was done, involving differences in time zones, international travel, customizing pencil bar codes, keyboard fingering codes, a fleet of motorcycle messengers and trans-Pacific information transfer is worthy of a Mission Impossible credit.

Movie Ending The movie would have been perfect if not for the ending - thus the 4.5 star rating. This is perhaps what ruined the movie for me. Instead of a derring-do ending, it chose to be politically correct and opted for a contrived "crime does not pay" ending - anti-climactic and unnecessary. This is the same situation with Point Break - very powerful movie choosing a water-downed politically correct ending. My choice for an ending? Girl contemplates on the guy's cheating proposal and comes back to him with a counter proposal upping the game for bigger stakes. And the movie ends there, with a lead-in for a sequel.

Ending Thoughts There is nothing high-tech about this movie. It's all about carefully splicing film for surgical editing, suspense, humor and human empathy - we've all been students and can relate to the realism of the situation. So, my burning question is, how come we can't come up with a movie like this? Why do we still use the done-to-death movie formula of Vilma Santos from back in the day? Or the lame Vic Sotto's slapstick Enteng Kabisote movies? The usual excuse Pinoy filmakers use is that there is no budget for something high tech, or movie goers need something they can relate to. Well, Bad Genius dispels all the excuses . I will use this as a benchmark for Filipino movie making - no more excuses please!

Thai Movies Reviewed:

• Low Season (2020) Feb 29, 2020
• Bad Genius (2017) Nov 9, 2017

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Story: Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) is an excellent student and gets a scholarship to go to a respectable school. At her new school, Grace (Eisaya Hosuwan) soon becomes friends with her. Grace is by no means as smart as Lynn is and even being tutored by her new friend doesn't help her to pass her test. This is why Lynn gives her the answers during the test. Grace's friend Pat (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) hears about it and wants to get the answers from her for the next test, as well. He even wants to pay her for it. After they found more of Pat's friends who are willing to pay Lynn for the answers, the schoolgirl creates a system to get the answers to the students during the test. As she and her single father are very poor, she now sees a chance to finally change something in her life. At the same time, she competes with the also poor student Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul) for a scholarship to possibly study abroad. However, Bank catches her fellow-student giving away the answers for the test and she is disqualified from the scholarship. Grace and Pat already have another idea. They want the answers for the international STIC exam and Lynn could make a lot of money from that. But she would also need Bank's help ...

Review: It has been a while since a movie from Thailand was able to catch my attention. Apart from an art house movie here and there or action movies like "Chocolate" as well as various Tony Jaa movies, there is not a lot coming out of this country, which would justify to take Thailand seriously when it comes to cinema. Now that has changed with "Bad Genius". Both the international and the local press are impressed by the movie and you do realize why quite quickly. We are talking about a heist movie, which doesn't revolve around a robbery or something similar but rather focuses on students who cheat at exams. Something rather boring is being told with such a high pacing and has such a witty script that you could think it's a matter of life and death. Simply for that director Nattawut Poonpiriya deserves high praise. In addition, he vaulted Thailand to a new cinematic level with this thriller, which you wouldn't have expected from this country anymore.

The only pitiful person is Bank, because he wants to fight himself to the top with diligence and effort, doesn't have any friends because of that and lives in the poorest of conditions. Regarding its characters, the movie does have some surprises in store, as they undergo some changes, which are indeed believable. Even secondary characters like Grace and Pat are not at all stereotypical villains trying to take advantage of Lynn. This three-dimensionality of the characters is really convincing, only Lynn stays too unapproachable and mysterious for too long. Some well-done scenes with her father do unfortunately not make up for that. But the script works with its characters and does not just focus on the adrenaline driven scenes, in which the answers for the exam are being passed on, which can be seen especially at the end and make the movie in its entirety so effective.

The topics education, corruption, poverty and daily problems of young people are integrated nicely in this thriller, only the ending cuts both ways. In general, you can't say anything bad about the ending. It is effective, at least one of the characters grows but at the same time, the movie's ending is lacking some kind of courage. It seems as if the director didn't really dare to present any other ending. That's a pity, but this is the only serious criticism about the movie - except for the rather long running time of 130 minutes. Due to its international flair and the gripping suspense this heist movie can be highly recommended and puts Thailand back on the cinematic map; it shows that countries like that can offer more than just the occasional movie for film festival niches. A suspense-packed and highly entertaining movie!

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Benedict wong, ‘bel-air’ star jabari banks set for english-language remake of ‘bad genius’.

Callina Liang will also star in the project from Picturestart and Picture Perfect Federation.

By Mia Galuppo

Mia Galuppo

Film Writer

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Benedict Wong, Bel-Air star Jabari Banks, and Callina Liang are set to star in the English-language remake of Thai hit Bad Genius .

Picturestart and Picture Perfect Federation are behind the project that will be directed by JC Lee from a script he wrote with Julius Onah. Shooting is expected to begin this May.

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The original film, titled Chalard Games Goeng (Bad Genius) , was written and directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya and produced by Thai film studio GDH 559 Company Limited. Released in 2017, the film broke box office records in Thailand, including becoming the highest-grossing Thai film of the year.

Erik Feig and Jessica Switch will produce via the Picturestart with Picture Perfect Federation’s Patrick Wachsberger and Ashley Stern and Mallory Edens’ Little Ray Media financing. Little Ray Media’s Mallory Edens, Picturestart’s Julia Hammer, and Wong will exec produce. International distribution partners have already been secured, including StudioCanal in the U.K.

Wong was most recently seen in the latest Doctor Strange film, The Multiverse of Madness . He is repped by Hirsch Wallerstein. He is set for Netflix’s Three Body Problem from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Banks, repped by WME, Frontline Management, and Granderson Des Rochers, currently stars in Peacock’s The Fresh Prince Bel-Air remake, Bel-Air .

Liang, repped by Authentic, the U.K.’s Payne Management, and Goodman Genow, stars in the ITV series Tell Me Everything .

Lee, who will be making his feature directorial debut on the film, has served as a producer and writer on The Morning Show and  How to Get Away with Murder , among other projects.

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Screen Rant

Civil war's rotten tomatoes score extends alex garland's incredible 22-year hot streak.

Alex Garland's new movie Civil War has received rave reviews, and it means Civil War extends the director's Rotten Tomatoes hot streak to 22 years.

• Alex Garland's latest movie, Civil War, continues his impressive streak with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 93%, his highest yet.
• The film's focus on a divided America and exploration of war themes is praised for its thoughtfulness and epic storytelling.
• Despite Garland's retirement from directing, Civil War's positive reviews show his unique vision and talent will be greatly missed.

Alex Garland is established as one of Hollywood's brightest minds, and Civil War 's Rotten Tomatoes score extends his incredible hot streak. The 2024 war movie from A24 is a major next step in Garland's career. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman, and others, interest in Civil War spiked after the marketing began and the somewhat realistic future version of America at war with itself was revealed. Considering the promise he showed early in his career as a screenwriter and what he's done directing, Alex Garland's movies are almost always thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking.

Questions about how critics and general audiences who watch Civil War would receive the movie were fair, though. The political nature of the story and view of America opens the door for more critics than some of Garland's prior works. Furthermore, the director's last movie, Men , was not as well-received as his other projects. The potential for a further decline in quality and appreciation, mixed with potentially divisive political and social commentary, made Civil War an expensive risk for A24 and Garland. The good news is the film's Rotten Tomatoes score is very high, continuing a streak for the filmmaker.

A24's Civil War Rotten Tomatoes Score Is A Big Relief After This Movie From 2 Years Ago

Civil war continues alex garland's rotten tomatoes streak that began with 28 days later, all of his projects since 2002 have positive reviews.

Alex Garland has delivered one of his best movies to date with Civil War ​​​​​​, judging by the Rotten Tomatoes score. The movie has a 93% rating on the Tomatometer based on 54 critic reviews that the aggregator site has tallied. This currently means Civil War is Alex Garland's highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes , edging out Ex Machina 's 92%. However, there is still plenty of room for the score to fluctuate as more reviews are published. Any changes that do come are unlikely to sway Civil War 's Rotten Tomatoes score from staying Fresh (above 60%), which is great for Garland.

This means that every Alex Garland movie or TV show that he has produced, written, and/or directed has received a Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes since 28 Days Later . The 2002 zombie-apocalypse movie was the first of Garland's works to garner positive reviews, as his work on The Beach two years prior was met with harsh critical reactions. Since 28 Days Later , Garland has written three films he did not direct, written and directed four films (including Civil War ), produced 28 Weeks Later , and created the show Devs ; all these projects have at least a 69% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Why Civil War's Reviews Are So Positive

A gripping story unfolds in an unsettling look at america.

There are plenty of similar praises that repeatedly pop up in different Civil War reviews from critics. One of the main reasons Alex Garland's fourth directorial effort has received much praise is due to how thoughtfully and viscerally it brings the story to life. Despite its big budget and action sequences, Civil War remains focused on the human experience of the journalists as they traverse across a divided America. Exploring the different views on the war, America, and other ideas all come up naturally. This helps Garland's film not feel like it is taking one side of a political argument.

It is through this approach that Garland's direction and script allow viewers to be completely enthralled by what they are watching . There is an epic feeling to the film that is consistently felt by reviewers. There are still criticisms levied against the film, such as its thin characters or perhaps not fully exploring the massive ideas it touches. However, the Civil War reviews are still much more in Garland's favor than against his work. It all goes to show that the director is still able to deliver a movie that is equal parts engaging, shocking, and moving.

Civil War's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Even More Important After Alex Garland's Retirement Claims

Alex garland confirmed he's going to step away from directing.

The overwhelming praise for the movie reflected in Civil War 's Rotten Tomatoes score is all the more important considering comments made by Alex Garland leading up to the film. He told The Guardian that "I’m not planning to direct again in the foreseeable future" after finishing work on the 2024 movie. Alex Garland's retirement from directing would still see him continue to work as a screenwriter , such as on the upcoming 28 Years Later film. He might not be fully retiring from filmmaking, but Civil War 's Rotten Tomatoes score is a reminder of how great of a director he is.

Although Garland might still be better known as a screenwriter, the movies he's directed have earned him greater praise. Civil War , Ex Machina , and Annihilation are his highest-rated projects on Rotten Tomatoes. His future works as a writer could continue to get positive reviews, but he knows his material best. It's his complete vision for a movie, from the script to directorial choices, that make some of Garland's movies so special. Civil War 's high score on Rotten Tomatoes is just another indicator that Alex Garland retiring from directing would be a shame.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes , The Guardian