Summary
A wildly silly ghost comedy with heart, broad laughs, and a box office bite to match its bark.
Following the massive success of How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, last year’s Thai box office smash, Chayanop Boonprakob’s THE RED ENVELOPE aims for similarly broad appeal—as broad, at least, as a comedy about a sham marriage to a gay ghost seeking his killer can be. Having already crossed 100 million Baht and become Thailand’s highest-grossing film of 2025, it’s safe to say the strategy paid off.
After waking from a nightmare, the late Titi’s mother is told by a spiritual advisor that her son has unfinished business. Believing it to be his unfulfilled wish to marry a man, she’s instructed to leave a red envelope that fate will deliver to the right groom. Enter Menn (Putthipong Assaratanakul, aka Billkin), a hapless police informant whose love life is even more tragic than his career. He stumbles upon the envelope—and into an unexpected posthumous marriage.
On their wedding night, Menn is stunned to find himself permanently accompanied by Titi’s ghost (Krit Amnuaydechkorn). What follows is a chaotic, comic partnership as the two try to uncover the truth behind Titi’s death, leading them into the orbit of suspected drug lord Big Joe (Jaturong Phonboon). Menn, eager to impress cop Goi (Arachaporn Pokinpakorn), and Titi, grappling with unresolved father issues, make for the unlikeliest of investigative duos.
A direct remake of China’s Marry My Dead Body (2022), and with more than a shade of Ghost—if Ghost were a queer buddy comedy—there aren’t many surprises tucked inside THE RED ENVELOPE. Still, as a mostly LGBTQ+-positive film with its heart in the right place, it offers a welcome twist on the standard crime caper. The humour is broad, veering from cartoonish slapstick to bawdy innuendo, and occasionally risks undercutting the good vibes. As someone unfamiliar with the creators or cast, I did wonder whether a few gags tip into unfortunate stereotype rather than good-natured allyship.
That said, aside from the initially homophonic Menn’s repeated protests of straightness and the odd f-slur thrown Titi’s way, the film is infused with the rhythms of queer Thai comedy. Subtle it is not—think acting challenges on RuPaul’s Drag Race and you’re in the right tonal ballpark. When emotional beats do arrive, they tend to stall the momentum completely. Still, it’s hard to stay mad at a film that features a nightclub dance-off capped with the line: “Mother ate that up from San Fran to Sarakhram.”
Unlike its characters, THE RED ENVELOPE is unlikely to convert the firmly prejudiced. But if you’re open to a familiar premise delivered with unabashed silliness and flashes of genuine heart, there’s fun to be had here.
2025 | Thailand | DIRECTOR: Chayanop Boonprakob | WRITERS: Chayanop Boonprakob, Thamsatid Charoenrittichai, Chantavit Dhanasevi, Weawwan Hongvivatana | CAST: Putthipong Assaratanakul, Krit Amnuaydechkorn, Arachaporn Pokinpakorn, Piyamas Monyakul, Jaturong Phonboon | DISTRIBUTOR: Cine Asia | RUNNING TIME: 125 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 15 May 2025 (Australia)
