Bad genius

This being a Thai movie, I was pleasantly surprised to notice there are no ghosts or cheesy romantic couplings. Bad Genius is essentially a caper thriller and it is as suspenseful as they come.

Brilliant student Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying – that's quite a mouthful) makes money by helping her classmates cheat on school tests. Her friends Grace (Eisaya Hosuwan) and Pat (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) then propose a million-Baht idea – to help students cheat on the STIC, an important standardized test used to gain placements in prestigious universities in the US. Lynn agrees to do it, but she can't do it without Bank's (Chanon Santinatornkul) help.

Bad Genius is one dynamite of a film. Who would have thought a simple idea of cheating in a test can go supernova. The narrative structure employed to tell the story is brilliant and assured. The twists and turns just keep on piling up, and not one time did I fall out of the story. The plot may be crazily far-fetched, but writer-director Nattawut Poonpiriya keeps it plausible and on the pulse. By that I mean it is instantly relatable, especially when we come up through the pressure-cooker education system.

The cast only has one recognizable veteran actor in Thaneth Warakulnukroh (Pop Aye) who plays Lynn's father. The rest of the cast are newbies, led by Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, a 21-year-old model making her acting debut. Their rawness shines through and it makes the characters compelling and believable. The writing is a mark of genius in that it comes up with ingenious methods to beat the school system; the trailer will give you a glimpse of that.

One of the things I always teach my kids in my writing class is to make sure the journey of the main character is never be too easy. Using a "two steps forward one step back" approach, there must be setbacks for the character to negotiate along the way and the narrative of Bad Genius exemplifies this to a T. When done well, you will be so caught up in the proceedings and wouldn't be able to see the gears moving behind the seams. For this to work, the ground work of laying down all the characters' myriad of motivations must be established well. Poonpiriya has done a superb job here, so much so that when the eventual comeuppance arrives it will hit you with a jolt to the jugular.

On top of that the movie has loads of heart and it puts the relentless pressure to succeed in the school system under the microscope. Bad Genius also works as a cautionary tale in that the end does not justify the means. Perhaps where the film could have done better is to examine certain issues that were brought up but weren't handled in depth, like how the school is in itself "cheating" by requesting the parents pay for school maintenance and how exams are not the only measure to determine a student's aptitude. But all this does not matter because the film clearly scores full marks in where it matters – a superb piece of entertainment.

Genius story plot with very good and (for me) unknown acters. Brilliant ideas and whole scenario, give you satisfaction.

I can't believe, this is based on true story. The cheating techniques are unbelievable. I couldn't resist myself from watching these techniques again and again. Whoever they were, I mean the real people, are genius :)

This is such a good film. Not only is it a fantastically exciting thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, but it's also just a really good exercise in properly entertaining storytelling. With slick and dynamic directing from Nattawut Poonpiriya, strong performances across the board from a young cast, and a genuinely unpredictable and often risky story, Bad Genius is an exhilarating watch, and one you mustn't miss out on.

Let's start off with the story, something that continued to surprise me regularly over the course of 130 minutes. Firstly, it's a very well-paced and intelligently laid-out plot, managing to effectively bind together major character development with the advent of this underground ring of students cheating on exams, and that means it's a thoroughly interesting watch right from the beginning, never getting bogged down at any point.

What's more is that it's full of some fantastic twists and turns that help keep the intensity at incredible levels throughout. Its first act does very well to establish the character's reasons for cheating on the exams, but after the early conflict is dealt with, it briefly seems like there's nowhere else for the movie to go.

However, from then on, it upgrades itself to a huge-scale thriller, almost playing out like a heist movie as the students try to pull off a daring coup by beating an international exam, leading to what can only be described as one of the most intensely exciting movie finales I've ever seen, to the point that I wasn't only on the edge of my seat, but genuinely breaking out into a sweat.

Of course, it's not just the screenplay that makes Bad Genius such a thrilling watch, because director Nattawut Poonpiriya does an amazing job here too. Above all, the film is beautifully shot from start to finish, with all the confidence and production quality of a big Hollywood movie, but it's also the way in which Poonpiriya styles the movie as what is effectively a heist thriller that makes it so memorable.

Whilst its finale is undoubtedly the pièce de resistance, the film has the intensity of a heist thriller right from the very start, as Poonpiriya uses very dynamic directing to bring the sense of risk right home, with various combinations of slow-mo and fast cuts in some of the exam sequences, all of which give the film even more confidence as a real thriller.

However, don't think that Bad Genius is just a wall-to-wall intense thriller, because it's actually really funny too. Again, Poonpiriya plays a big part in this, managing to expertly weave some of the story's lighter moments appropriately into the midst of something more thrilling, but it's also the fact that the whole thing seems so serious and intense that plays into another level of humour.

For one, the mimicking of classic heist and crime movies like Heat, Trainspotting, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and more through its visuals, and yet the fact that it's centring around high school students cheating on tests, is a lot of fun to watch throughout. Also, the film is fully self-aware when it comes to delivering good comedy, meaning that in the middle of an incredibly intense sequence, it still feels perfectly appropriate to have a short burst of comedy to keep the mood light and playful, something that really impressed me.

But as well as the comedy and the thrills, Bad Genius also manages to hit another mark, telling a slightly more dramatic and moral story along the way. While the main bulk of the film is undoubtedly its endlessly entertaining thrills, it's the little moments where we see our characters realise what they're getting themselves into, and begin to question whether it's really morally acceptable to continue on their way. It's by no means preachy, and feels perfectly at home in the film, but if there were ever a film to show kids to not cheat on their exams, this is the one, because it really manages to show the deeper effects and consequences of doing so beyond simply getting disqualified or slapped on the wrist.

Finally, the performances here are pretty fantastic too. In the lead role, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying does a great job as the eponymous 'bad genius', proving a hugely entertaining and likable lead for the thriller side of the story, while still managing to keep her performance in check to allow the film's comedy and moral drama to have a good effect as well.

Meanwhile, a lot of her co-stars impress in some very energetic and memorable performances, with the leading quartet featuring a fantastically exciting dynamic that allows them to play off one another, and keep the tension and excitement of their characters' relationships bubbling throughout the movie, yet another level that engrossed me deeper into the story here.

Overall, I absolutely loved Bad Genius. First and foremost, it's a thriller of epic proportions, and it does an amazing job at keeping you fully on the edge of your seat over the course of a genuinely unpredictable 130 minutes. However, it proves more impressive yet with its brilliantly slick directing, excellent comedy, intriguing drama and strong performances, all of which come together to make a mighty entertaining movie.

The movie defies opinion and stereotypes. Although originated from what can be known as a "B-rated" market - Thailand, the product - what may have been seen as a typical teenager movie - stands out in its own field with brilliant production and composing. I came in the cinema with almost zero hope for what could be the next definition of modern entertainment movie, yet the show proved that it got all the elements ready. The casts, while still in their early years, depicts the characters as-what-they-are, with enough depth and individuality. Next,the surprisingly excellent screenplay, cinematic sound and effects took every single breath away. In short, what's here is a play inside a play, a concert inside a movie. The photography skill here was taken to the next level. The sound team was truly praiseworthy. No one expected how intriguing a simple exam scene could be until they see the pencils were dropped while Mozart notes are stepping in the beautifully shot frames. No second was left out or wasted, scene after scene followed one another like the flow of water, with all the intensity a film this kind needed. What's next? What's there left behind? - The viewers are left with the question thorough the play and were not disappointed. Could this be the all time classic for generations? Hardly, but could this piece of art here linger in your thoughts, days after days? Certainly. It was all too simple at first look, until the drama started: the thought-consuming piano flow kicked in and the clock started moving, seconds by seconds.