Present Still Perfect (Thai)

Its fun to watch a sequel of a film immediately after you have seen the first one and not having to wait for a few years. Present Still perfect is a beautiful sequel to its predecessor, and a worthy film. Interetsingly, its one of the few sequels that in my opinion are much better than the original. Be it acting, direction, the natural beautiful landscape and overall presentation. The two major themes, according to me that are handled in this film are that Love hurts and also that Love is about forgiving. Not sure if the makers had that in their mind, but at least that's my take away.

The film pretty much is set right after Toey and Oat's chance meeting at airport and them connecting through facebook. Oat has sent a few messages to Toey but still heart broken, he is ignoring those messages. He has just arrived in a beautiful resort for a holiday which is owned and managed by Jen. A Japanese tourist Kenta also arrives at the same time in the resort. He eyes Toey with a certain level of amusement and curiosity that somehow unnerves our hero. Jen confides in Toey has her ex husband cheated on her and that she will never forgive him. SO next day when Oat shows up unannounced in the same resort to woo Toey, he is shocked and scared of himself. He fights with Oat, but eventually decide to give them a chance and spend 3 days together for the sake of their love. The two have the best time but Jen keeps reminding Toey of why he should not be the person spoiling someone else's family. On their last night together, Oat tells Toey that he wants to be with him, but in a very emotional outburst, Toey refuses it. He says that he will not be the person who is known for uprooting his family, his wife and son and asks Oat to leave the next day. When Oat reaches home, his wife eventually makes him admit the truth about his love for Toey and surprisingly she is very supportive of it, because she wants to see him happy. They both immediately leave for the resort to convince Toey, Oat proposes to him and eventually they get married.

The resort where the film is shot is a near perfect backdrop for this cute love story. Yes. it is mostly serious but thankfully Jen's character continuously provides some light relief and smiles which is actually much needed in this film. It is very evident that Toey is still very much heart broken and in love with Oat and cant forget him and even his Japanese friend Yumi tells him to stop running away. The two men, when they meet reconnect beautifully and are very much in love. They share an excellent chemistry. The intimacy they exhibited in one crucial scene was a clear highlight that the original movie did not have. Somehow Oat got hotter and Toey has become a much much better actor. His outburst, his fear, his want for love, but also morally doing the right thing; he does a beautiful job of showing all these emotions. He is really good. The outburst that Toey has on their last night together is something I never expected. Right from writing the scene to directing and performing; it is a beautiful scene, that will stay with me. Love hurts but you also want to do the right thing and that's a dilemma in which most of us will probably fail to make the apt decision. Jen was a fun character, something I thought would become caricature-ish but thankfully it did not. It was funny but still with emotions and love. Oat's wife was surprisingly very supportive. I had expected bit of drama but this shows the maturity of the script writer. At some level, we all want our loved ones to be happy and sometimes to do that, you have to take a step back. The film is still a bit slow and I wish there was a bit more character development for the Japanese tourist would be only constructive feedback.

You don't have to have seen the prequel to understand and appreciate this beautiful film. What a contrast between over the top That web series v/s a beautiful emotional and sentimental thai love story. And did I mention, how beautiful the location of the film shot at is. (7.5/10)