The Thai Film That Didn't Make It to the Oscars

Brief thoughts on "How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies"

Although the Oscars included a performance by Thailand’s favorite KPOP artist Lisa, for Thais the spectacle did have a striking omission. How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, the blockbuster that took Asia by storm last year, made the 15-film shortlist for Best International Feature Film but ended up being excluded from the final five. The movie producers had written upon learning the news:

Although How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies didn't advance to the final nominations, its place on the Best International Feature Film shortlist marks a groundbreaking achievement for Thai cinema. As the first Thai film to reach this milestone, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has carved out an indelible moment of pride in our nation's cinematic history.

We are forever grateful to witness how this film transcended borders, capturing the hearts of audiences around the world. One of our partners beautifully described it as a 'love letter to family,' and we couldn't agree more. Its universal theme has connected with audiences on an emotional level everywhere, which has led to its passionate embrace by so many.

For those who haven’t seen it, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies follows the story of M, a desperate grandson chasing after what he believes to be a substantial inheritance from his grandmother by caring for her after she is diagnosed with cancer.¹ It is often comedic, drawing on relatable episodes of Thai-Chinese family life, but also highly emotionally resonant as it follows through the arc of the illness and the fraught relationships that result.

I’ve never really liked the term “soft power.” I wrote about this more extensively here, but the long and short of it is I think the Pheu Thai obsession with soft power takes a respectable term in international relations and turns it into a catch-all for all kinds of cultural exports. It also obscures the true goal of what the Thai government wants to do, which is promoting the development of Thailand’s creative industries. Yet in a way, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is perhaps one of the best exemplifications of what constitutes Thailand’s cultural power that I’ve seen yet.

For one, the film celebrates one aspect of Thailand that sets it apart from many of its Southeast Asian neighbors: the distinct but harmonious existence of the Thai-Chinese community. The ability to tap into this shared heritage with other countries with sizable communities of Chinese descent probably goes some way in explaining why the film was such a hit in countries like Singapore and Malaysia. But at the same time, the film draws on themes that are timeless in Thai literature, owing to its Buddhist heritage, particularly that of impermanence and dying.

Although How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies didn’t make it to the Oscars, the film does set an example to follow for Thailand’s creative industries: a re-affirmation that Thailand is able to export its creative products to its neighbors and beyond. The movie did far more than its fair share to increase Thailand’s “Gross National Cool.” It is also a reminder that sometimes the best successes in the “soft power” arena is not a result of intentional persuasion but rather the serendipitous effects that come with unforced creativity.

1. The film’s name in Thai is Larn Ma (“Grandson”), which I vastly prefer to the English title.