The Paradise of Thorns: On Getting Even
by Rohan Connolly
Imagine you have spent years of your life with your partner, working together to maintain a family business. You’ve invested all the money you have and spent every day labouring all to have it taken away from you because your name is missing from one document. How far would you go to get it back?
Naruebet Kuno’s The Paradise of Thorns (2024) asks this question of its protagonist Thongkam (Jeff Satur). Thongkam spends his days working at and living on his partner Sek’s (Pongsakorn Mettarikanon) durian orchard—which was passed down to him from his father. They have finally, together, paid off the property and are able to put Sek’s name on the deed, granting him full ownership of the property. Riding the high of their joint accomplishment the two of them decide to celebrate their love by getting married (in all the ways they’re able to). They exchange rings, they pledge their loyalty to each other, they do everything but sign a marriage certificate as it is not an option for them. When tragedy strikes and Sek dies in an accident, Thongkam discovers that their relationship, and his own investment in the orchard, means nothing in the eyes of the state and that ownership of the land and everything on it will be handed over to Sek’s mother, Saeng (Seeda Puapimon).
What follows is a harrowing story of loss, revenge and family set on the stunning backdrop of rural Thailand. The characters of Thongkam, Saeng, and Mo (Engfa Waraha), a woman who was taken in by Saeng as a child and is considered a daughter, are constantly at odds with each other, but all are sympathetic in their own ways. Thongkam and Mo are perfect parallels of each other, each vying for the role of Saeng’s child, each hoping to inherit the orchard and each trying to keep it away from the other. They loathe each other, but they understand each other. They both know the orchard is their only chance at ownership, and each considers themselves more deserving than the other. While they fight to be deemed good enough to be Saeng’s children, Seeda Puapimon plays the character of a toxic mother perfectly. Saeng is ruthless, demanding, manipulative and deeply human. She makes you want to yell at the screen, but she is still a mother coping with the loss of her only child.
It can be easy, especially in the second act of the film, to forget what pushed these characters as far as they go. The revenge plot, and the double and triple crossing that goes on distracts you from the fact that this is a misshapen family that has not had the opportunity to grieve. They become so caught up in each other, it no longer becomes about Sek, or the orchard or anything else. It’s simply about beating the other and ensuring there is no chance at the prize being taken away from them.
