“When elephants fight, the grass is inevitably crushed.” – Quote from Man Suang

Indeed, this is a visually stunning movie that is certainly entertaining. With a big bag of popcorn (or snack of your choice) and a relaxing chair, you will thoroughly enjoy this movie. Filled with handsome men, a relatively interesting but a bit slow-plodding plot at times, elegant chorography, breathtaking cinematography, and beautiful costumes, you are in for a treat. Is it memorable? Well, no, not really, but it sure is fun to watch.

It is a story of two dancers. During a performance before officials, one is so impressive, not just for his dancing skills but also for his beauty and is asked to ‘personally perform’ for his uncle who is a high official. Khun (Apo Nattawin) and his companion Wan (Bas Asavapatr) are an interesting pair. Both young and handsome, but with Khun looking after Wan, almost like a brother. Their backstory is somewhat vague. Unfortunately, both are accused of killing the official Khun was asked to entertain even though they had attempted to intervene in the assassination. However, to gain pardons for the crime of murder that they will be charged with since they are phrai, (of the lower class), they agree to go to Siam to conduct a cloak-and-dagger operation and steal documents that are proving that the group of Chinese known as Tua Hia are plotting a rebellion.

The two are snuck into the exclusive club called Man Suang where the scheming is supposedly taking place. At first, as servants, but then Khun’s natural ability both as a performer and his mesmerizingly good looks, he gets to be a lead male dancer there. While the two of them have to earn their place and are subject to the usual strifes of being the juniors in the troupe, a drummer named Chatra (Mile Phakphum) befriends Khun; the two of them become confidants and begin to share secrets as to the real reasons why they are there. Chatra’s reason for being at Man Suang runs parallel to what are Khun and Wan’s reason.

There is certainly a lot of political intrigue and maneuvering that goes on in this series; there are some very interesting plot twists. When the founder of Man Suang is murdered, his very handsome son, Tong (Hong Thanayut), forms an alliance with Chatra and Khun to both clear his father’s name of the supposed plot to create a rebellion and to expose those who are involved with the political intrigue going on in Siam. There are, admittedly, some creative and colorful methods that the three of them crafted to shine a light on who the offenders were. And that adds to the fun of watching this movie.

The person, however, who intrigued me the most is Bas Asavapatr as Wan. He is a rather hapless individual who plays a prominent role in the beginning and then fades out towards the end as his mental status deteriorates rapidly. We are not quite sure what triggers his mental health breakdown until near the end. He is a very despondent, tragic figure that I could not help but feel empathy for. When Chatra gets involved, Wan is waylaid and becomes secondary, feeling left out. He mistrusts Chatra completely, and you will understand his reasoning. But the story centered so much around the plot that it forgot to deal with its characters effectively. The story does not do a good job of explaining the connection between Wan and Khun, but it is obviously a close one. However, Wan almost becomes irrelevant. His needs, his pain, his story was left out, sadly. And in the end, he had to pay a heavy price for having to face his complete mental deterioration and cumulative fears all alone, feeling isolated, and abandoned. He was profoundly desolate and quite literally the forgotten character.

The plot is manifestly implausible, slow in the middle, yet it worked in the end as entertainment. The ending is to be expected. There are no hidden meanings, and the story does not go deep. To coin a trite phrase, admittedly, it is what it is. Do not read more into it.

The acting is good and certainly solid. The depictions of the period they were portraying were simply spot-on. They certainly looked the part. To my Western eyes, all of it was dreamily exotic and wonderful. Apo’s dancing was so beautiful, hypnotic, and simply down-right beguiling. Of course, both Apo and Mile are from “KinnPorsche” fame. However, this is not that and cannot be compared to that. This is not a BL. Not even a bromance. There are sexual overtones but not with one another and nothing even hinting of romance.

This is a beautiful, compelling, and colorful story. The costumes, choreography, cinematography, and set designs are all exquisite. Yet it all seemed to fit just too neatly. The story at times is hard to follow as the characters become complex and their interactions with each other are full of intrigue and innuendo that I simply could not follow all their nuances. However, that is not the problem with this series. All the moving parts are great, but when you put it all together, it just felt like something was missing. It lacked a sense of believability. I just did not believe they were who they were trying to be except for Bas as Wan. He had heart and commitment. When he was sad, I felt it as well. When he mentally deteriorated, I could see it and understand it. I just did not get the same passion from the others. Sure, their actions spoke; their characterizations did not.

I want to emphasize that this is nonetheless an enjoyable movie and fun to watch. It is a cloak-and-dagger movie with no romance, and I cannot even say any real friendship. However, it is a fine period piece (1851). Good acting but not great acting. If you are expecting anything like the intensity of KinnPorsche, you will be disappointed. And besides, that is not a fair comparison.

So. grab some popcorn or your favorite snack and watch this very enchanting movie and then go to bed. It is that kind of move. Fun but forgettable.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- Netflix