''The Paradise of Thorns'' () is a 2024 Thai romantic drama film directed and written by

Naruebet Kuno Naruebet Kuno (, born 19 March 1991), nicknamed Boss, is a Thai director and screenwriter, best known for his work with GDH 559 and Nadao Bangkok. Naruebet's recent works focus on representation of LGBTQ+ stories. Early life Naruebet grew up ...

in his feature directorial debut. The film stars

Jeff Satur Worakamol Satur (, born March 6, 1995), better known as Jeff Satur (), is a Thai singer and actor. Early life and education Born and raised in Bangkok, he has Thai-Italian-Indian ancestry from his father's side, while his mother is of Thai-Chi ...

and Engfa Waraha. The film was released theatrically in Thailand on 22 August 2024 and had its international premiere at the

2024 Toronto International Film Festival The 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 5–15, 2024. The festival opened with David Gordon Green's film ''Nutcrackers (film), Nutcrackers'', and closed with Rebel Wilson's directorial debut film ''The Deb (fil ...

on 6 September 2024.

Premise

An unmarried gay couple starts a

durian The durian () is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognized species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species ...

farm together. When one of them dies, the surviving partner fights to regain their shared property, which is seized by his family. Thongkham (

) and Sek (Pongsakorn Mettarikanon), a same-sex couple, have dedicated themselves to hard work and have managed to acquire a large house, land, and durian orchard in Mae Hong Son province. They had hoped to make this place their happy sanctuary. However, a tragic turn of events occurs when Sek suddenly passes away. Thongkham also discovers the harsh reality of Thai law, which does not recognize

same-sex partnerships A domestic partnership is an intimate relationship between people, usually couples, who live together and share a common domestic life but who are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive legal ben ...

. As a result, all the assets they had accumulated together, including the house, land, and durian farm, are inherited by Saeng (Seeda Puapimon), Sek's mother. Saeng then brings her adopted daughter, Mo ( Engfa Waraha), to live with them at the house. With no other choice, Thongkham must fight against the injustice of the law to protect and reclaim their dream home.

Cast

as Thongkham Kronlongsuk * Engfa Waraha as Mo Jongyoi *Seeda Puapimon as Nang Saeng Boonkamlue, Sek's mother *Harit Buayoi as Jingna Jongyoi, Mo's younger brother *Pongsakorn Mettarikanon as Seksan Boonkamlue

Production

In March 2023, the project was first announced by

GDH 559 GDH 559 Co., Ltd. (), doing business as GDH, is a film studio subsidiary of the Thai entertainment conglomerate GMM Grammy. It was founded on 5 January 2016, as a successor to GMM Tai Hub (GTH) — Thailand's most successful film studio of the ...

at its 2023 press conference under the title ''The Project D'' and was scheduled to be released at the end of the year. GDH originally cast Krit Amnuaydechkorn in the role of Thongkham but he withdrew due to scheduling conflict and was eventually replaced by

. The project had been showcased by GDH 559 at the

2024 Cannes Film Festival The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2024. American filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig served as jury president for the main competition. American filmmaker Sean Baker (filmmaker), Sean Baker won the Palme d'Or, the ...

Release

''The Paradise of Thorns'' was released in Thai theatres on 22 August 2024. The film became the third highest-grossing Thai film of 2024 after grossing more than

฿ The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

100 million ($2.9 million). It had its international premiere at the

on 6 September 2024 during its Discovery program. The film began screening on 19 September in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

; 25 September in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, 27 September in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, 3 October in

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, 10 October in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 1 November in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, 6 November in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and 8 November in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. It was released on Netflix on 9 January 2025.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paradise of Thorns, The 2024 directorial debut films 2024 romantic drama films Thai romantic drama films 2024 LGBTQ-related films 2020s Thai films Films about same-sex marriage Thai LGBTQ-related films Gay-related films GDH 559 films Thai films grossing over 100 million baht