How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

Grandma Menju (Usha ‘Taew’ Seamkhum) is dying. It’s pretty obvious to her even though no-one will have an honest conversation with her about her stage four cancer diagnosis. She’s elderly and frail and she knows she can’t go on forever. She wants to spend the time she has left on the small day to day pleasures that mean the most to her. This hasn’t really included time with her family members, who haven’t visited often but who soon begin to, as is often the case in circumstances like these, when people want to salve their consciences, or when they want something else.

One way or another, everybody in this large extended family wants Grandma’s house. It’s worth a fortune and they don’t know who she’ll leave it to, so each of them tries, in a different way, to ingratiate themselves with her. In the process they disrupt her routines, often proving more irritating than helpful, and fuss over her without realising that she is actually the one doing the emotional labour. Religiously devout, she doesn’t want to leave this world having failed in her moral duties, so she puts up with them, and as each individual in this complex relationship fakes what it means to be part of a loving family, something like real family bonds begin to form by accident.

Thailand’s submission to the 2025 Oscars, and now on the Best International Film shortlist, this was the most successful film of the year in its home country. It’s a natural crowd-pleaser, with a sentimental story arc, a lot of gentle comedy and some rather lowbrow jokes of the sort that will appeal to young children. It’s also very well scripted in terms of character and dialogues, whilst director Pat Boonnitipat adds real depth through his visual representation of its locations. Even when it’s at its silliest, everything about it feels detailed and real, and the meandering narrative intersects with numerous other stories in the neighbourhood in ways easily rich enough to spawn spin-offs yet never overly distracting.

This kind of layered story construction is a difficult thing to pull off and it makes the film shine. There’s also some good work from the actors, notably Putthipong ‘Billkin’ Assaratanakul as M, the directionless grandson who has latched on to one scheme after another before, upon becoming Grandma’s carer, he inadvertently discovers something that he’s good at. Although the audience is always aware of the more dubious aspects of the characters’ motives, it’s easy to warm to them as they warm to one another. None of them is a success in conventional terms, but they are all smart and, in their own ways, highly skilled. Subtly exploring wider social attitudes, the film invites us to wonder how they might have applied themselves differently were they not endeavouring to impress or survive one another. There is also a subtler process underway, as their frantic rhythms – and the film’s – gradually adjust to grandma’s gentler pace. This is as much cultural as it is directly age-related. It’s about learning to appreciate the enhanced quality of a properly made cup of tea.

How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is a cheeky bit of fun, and doesn’t feel like a natural award-winner, but its own quality is enhanced by a good deal of patience, diligence and love from its creative team.