Pee Mak

''Pee Mak'' (; ) is a 2013 Thai supernatural horror comedy romance film directed and co-written by Banjong Pisanthanakun. The story is an adaptation of the Mae Nak Phra Khanong legend of Thai folklore. The film stars Mario Maurer as Mak, Davika Hoorne as Nak, and Pongsathorn Jongwilas, Nattapong Chartpong, Auttarut Kongrasri and Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasook. The film was a major commercial success upon its release and became Thailand's highest-grossing film of all time.

Plot

During the era of King Mongkut, Mak is drafted to serve in a war, forcing him to leave behind his pregnant wife Nak in the town of Phra Khanong. While recuperating from battle injuries, he becomes friends with fellow soldiers Ter, Puak, Shin and Aey. Meanwhile, Nak struggles alone painfully to give birth to the baby; she calls out for help, but she is too weak to be heard. Shortly after, rumors start circulating in the village that Nak had died in labor and was now a ghost of a very powerful form haunting the house. The villagers in the neighborhood then heard her singing lullabies to her baby, terrifying them and forcing them to cower in fear.

Mak and his friends return to Phra Khanong, but find the town completely silent. Arriving at Mak and Nak's house during the night, Mak introduces Nak to them. As it is now too dark to continue traveling, Mak's friends decide to stay. The following day, the men visit the market but are shunned by the fearful community who refuse to sell their goods to Mak and run away. A drunk villager attempts to shout out a warning to Mak but is forced down and hushed by her son. Mak's friends then discuss what they had heard, but dismiss the rumors.

Shin, while fetching Mak, sees that the house is a dilapidated wreck after one of the stairs breaks, seeing that the baby cot that Mak and Nak's son, Dang, was supposed to be sleeping in, is rocking by itself, and sees Nak extending her arm to an unnatural length to retrieve a dropped lime under the house. Ter accuses Shin of being delusional. However, while taking a dump in the forest, Ter discovers a decomposed corpse behind the house wearing the same ring as Nak. The drunk villager who had also tried to warn them earlier mysteriously drowns. Mak invites his friends to eat supper, in which they are given leaves and worms made by Nak. They later play charades. One of them involves a wordplay "Phi Sua" lit: "Butterfly", that requires Nak to be described as a ghost "Phi." Mak then dismisses their warnings and friendship, and kicks them out.

Later, Mak and Nak go out on a date in the town, visiting an amusement park. Mak's friends attempt to convince Mak that Nak is a ghost at the Ferris wheel, but they and the waiting queue are chased away by Nak. They try a second time to capture Mak in the haunted house and are successful, taking him to the forest. However, Mak's old wartime wound reopens. Shin and Ter become convinced that he, not Nak, is the ghost, and their fears are seemingly confirmed when Mak reacts in pain when they attack him with holy rice. The friends then flee and rescue Nak since Phueak desires Nak's beauty.

While escaping in a boat, Mak walks towards them into the river, but nearly drowns after suffering cramps, revealed that he is not a ghost. After being rescued, Mak reveals that the rice had riddled his wound, making him yell out in pain. In the confusion, Aey drops a ring identical to the one Mak, Nak, and the body behind the house had been wearing. Aey is immediately pronounced a ghost and kicked off the boat. The others then try to escape, but, as they had lost the paddles to the boat earlier, they cannot move. Nak then somehow produces a soaking wet paddle and hands it to Ter, who suddenly recalls that all of them had been thrown overboard, and had already drifted too far away for a normal person to recover. Ter then stands up on the boat to look between his legs at the group; Nak is revealed to have been the ghost all along as she has extended her arm to place on Mak's shoulder. The four remaining men retreat to a temple. Mak refuses to leave Nak alone, forcing his friends to knock him unconscious before carrying him off.

The men come under the protection of the local monk, armed with holy rice, and holy water, and the temple is fortified with an enchanted 'safety ring.' Nak quickly appears, in her terrifying ghostly form, and attacks. Initially, the holy 'weapons' keep Nak at bay, but, in a panic, coupled with Mak's struggle to be with his wife, all of the holy rice and water are wasted, and the monk is accidentally kicked out of the "safety ring" and flees the temple, leaving the four, who had since destroyed the 'safety ring' while trying to run, to face the angry Nak. A pale Aey then reappears, revealing that he is also human; he was in possession of the ring because he had stolen it from the corpse behind the house to finance his gambling. Nak shouts at the five that she just wants to be with Mak, which the four friends oppose since they don't believe the living could be with the dead, and accuse her of killing the drunk; Nak denies her involvement and says that the drunk had drowned herself. A desperate Nak then threatens to kill Mak and take him to live with her, but stops when she sees how much she has been scaring him. Mak then reveals he knew the truth about Nak all along, having had his suspicions raised during the game of charades. He had already looked at Nak between his legs, which revealed her ghostly form and found her corpse. However, even then, he is far more afraid of living without her than of her being dead. The two tearfully reconcile. His friends, also tearfully reaffirm their friendship, and vow to never leave each other again. A flashback to Mak and Nak's first meeting is shown.

In the credits, Mak, his wife and their friends live happily in the village. Nak uses her supernatural abilities to do chores, play charades (and help Mak win for the first time), scare off villagers attempting to drive her away (who are led by the drunk's son) and even run the town's 'haunted house' attraction. It is also revealed that her infant child, Dang, also possesses some of her abilities.

Cast

*Mario Maurer as Mak
*Davika Hoorne as Nak
*Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk as Aey (เอ, )
*Nuttapong Chartpong as Ter (เต๋อ, )
*Wiwat Kongrasri as Shin (ชิน, )
*Pongsathorn Jongwilas as Puak (เผือก, )

Reception

''Pee Mak'' earned more than 1 billion baht ($33 million) in revenue worldwide (mostly in Asia), and became the highest-grossing Thai film of all time, more than tripling the record held by ''The Legend of Suriyothai.'' The film sold a record 16 million tickets worldwide. The film also screened in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Myanmar, Brunei and Japan. In Hong Kong, it earned over $10 million HKD over a time span of over 40 days. It is the first Thai film to be screened in every Southeast Asian country. It was also screened at the East Wind Film Festival in England.

The film received generally positive critical reviews, with a positive review in ''The Nation'' and ''The Guardian'' seeing it as a major success for Thai cinema.

Accolades

Remake

A Philippine remake titled ''Mak-Mak'' will be produced by Viva Films.

See also

* List of ghost films
* Bayama Irukku
* Kinavalli

References

External links

*

Pee Mak Movie
at sanook!

Pee Mak the movie
at Movie MThai

{{Banjong Pisanthanakun

Films directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun
GMM Tai Hub films
Thai comedy horror films
Thai romantic comedy films
2013 romantic comedy films
Thai ghost films
Thai films remade in other languages
2013 comedy horror films
Films set in the 1850s
Films based on Mae Nak Phra Khanong
Thai national heritage films
2010s Thai films
Thai films grossing over 100 million baht