Featured photo by Be On Cloud
Story by Larry Rincon
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Moving away from action and bodyguards to horror and manipulation, Thai Production studio, Be On Cloud’s latest series, “Dead Friend Forever,” reminded me of the genius behind Dr. Isaree Siriwankulthon’s writing.
As a medical practitioner, Siriwankulthon usually includes her medical knowledge into her writing giving her characters and storylines a realistic perspective and depth not found in other works. As a fan of her other projects, I was excited to see another one of her masterpieces be produced by a studio that provides top-quality production.
The series is the result of Be On Cloud’s reality series, “The Hidden Character,” which provided eleven low-profile individuals the opportunity to land a lead role in an undisclosed series. The season finale showcased the participants’ acting skills in pairs, and the ultimate winners were “Copper” Phuriwat Chotiratanasak and “Ta” Nannakun Pakapatpornpob.
The two are part of a group of eight friends who travel to an isolated cabin to celebrate Copper’s character, Jin, moving to study in the United States. Eventually, problems arise with the sudden appearance of a mysterious ninth member who begins to hunt the friends down.
The events of the show take the audience on a roller coaster of rage and disgust with the horrid actions and behaviors of all characters in the series.
The actual story of the series starts with six of the eight friends back in high school entering a film competition. Their lack of good ideas and screenwriting skills leads them to seek out the help of another student named Non, played by Barcode Tinnasit Isarapongporn.
Aside from Jin, the other five friends take advantage and terrorize Non on a day-to-day basis. From overworking him to blaming him for stuff he did not do to roping him into a money laundering scheme, Non is a victim of a bunch of manipulators.
Even Jin, who actually finds himself falling for Non, serves a role in his eventual disappearance when he uploads a video of Non and a tutoring teacher being intimate.
For the next three years, the friends bury their history until it all comes back to haunt them when they visit the cabin where they filmed their short film.
With this being Siriwankulthon’s first official screenplay adaptation, I was blown away by the complexity and layers of the story.
Most plot twists can suffer from the randomness and lack of thought behind them, but the twists in “Dead Friend Forever” were incredibly placed and offered more depth to the story than I expected.
Out of the eight friends, Pakapatpornpob’s character, Phee, and “Mio” Athens Werapatanakul’s character, Tan, spent two years infiltrating the original friend group in order to discover what happened to Non.
Phee was actually Non’s boyfriend during the time that he was being taken advantage of, and it is revealed that Tan is Non’s brother–and his name is actually New. They set their plan for revenge, and when the time comes for confrontation, the entire situation derails and falls apart as Tan seeks more than the truth.
The massacre that follows satisfied the rage and hate that I found myself feeling after knowing the ugly truth behind the character’s actions.
Using a hallucinogenic drug, Tan makes the friends believe they are cursed for their past and manipulates them to kill each other. Knowing that Siriwankulthon is a doctor, the probable reality behind his actions makes the entire plot point so much better.
With a cast of mostly new actors, the show of course has its moments where the performance does not live up to the energy of the story. However, Isarapongporn’s performance stole the spotlight as he powerfully portrayed Non’s anguish and struggles.
Werapatanakul’s performance, especially in the last couple of episodes, blew me away. His quiet and more anxious persona at the start is erased, revealing the true nature of a man driven by revenge.
Aside from the performances, the production was spectacular, from the cinematography to the staging to the editing, especially towards the end of the series. Lighting and special effects immersed the viewer into the scene where the characters are drugged and hallucinating, almost as if they had taken the drug themselves.
The series is not your typical horror story. While murder and gore are aspects of the show to look forward to, the real horror is the actions of a horrible group of individuals and the result of said actions.
The ending of the story is open-ended, leaving it to the viewer’s imagination to decide the fate of those who did not die. However, “Dead Friend Forever” manages to land a place among my top favorite series I have watched so far.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell and Assistant Lifestyles Editor Shamani Salahuddin, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Instagram at MTSUSidelines or on X at @MTSUSidelines.
