Malila: The Farewell Flower (2017)

Listen... if you liked the way the love scenes in Not Me were shot with all its sensuality, beauty.. Malila is worth checking out, because i feel like its equally entrancing. Both of the main characters are lgbtq too and their romance goes deep. Theres subtle commentary on social issues as well.

Different genre, but the setting is really similar and also the way they portray nature and Thai village lifestyle through beautifully well done shots. Furthermore, Buddhism is an important piece in both stories, it reflects about spirits and the next life.

Although Malila has creepy elements which could be categorized as horror, it is above all a dark and contemplative film.

Both supernatural LGBTQ+ stories told by the same crew (director, screenwriter, cinematographer...). Both are films beautifully shot which tells spiritual storylines.

Definitely two pieces of art made by the same person, even when both are 13 years apart.

Anucha Boonyawatana's debut, "Down the River", settled many of the elements and recurrent topics that she has been touching since then: Buddhist philosophy, love (specially since a LGBTQ+ perspective) and Thai floral art. All these themes are touched again in "Malila: The Farewell Flower".

Delicate Thai art house films which converge gay lovers, tradition, Buddhist and the most rural and isolate sample of Siamese countryside and jungle.