A Useful Ghost
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Screen for YOUR familyParent's Guide to A Useful Ghost
“A Useful Ghost” (2025) is a Thai fantasy-comedy-drama that blends elements of romance, horror, and political satire, marking the feature debut of director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke. The film centers on March, a widower whose deceased wife, Nat, returns as a ghost inhabiting a vacuum cleaner. Their unconventional reunion sparks an absurd yet earnest love story that is met with familial and societal resistance. Beyond its comedic and romantic premise, the film delves into deeper themes of toxic pollution, soulless capitalism, and the erasure of historical memory, particularly in the context of Thailand's political past. It features prominent LGBTQ+ characters and themes, exploring marginalization and conditional acceptance through its narrative layers. The film has garnered critical acclaim, winning the Grand Prix at Cannes Critics' Week, and is intended for mature audiences due to its explicit sexual content, violence, and mature themes.
Things to Consider
LGBTQ & Gender Identity
LGBTQ+ themes and characters are central and explicitly portrayed throughout the film. The director, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, intentionally uses the human-ghost relationship as an allegory for queer experiences, stating it is "inherently queer". The narrative includes several openly LGBTQ+ characters and explores societal homophobia and conditional acceptance of same-sex relationships.
The film features March's gay brother and his Australian husband, whose relationship is initially accepted by the family only due to financial profit, highlighting conditional acceptance. Another prominent character is a self-described "Academic Ladyboy" who frames the main narrative, and who experiences an instant, sizzling, and satisfyingly resolved connection with a repairman. The film also includes "several gay sex scenes" which are explicitly mentioned in reviews.
Violence
The film contains explicit and implied violence, serving both comedic and serious purposes. It depicts physical confrontations, state-sanctioned violence, and medical procedures used coercively, with an increasing intensity towards the third act.
Romance and Sexual Content
Romantic and sexual content is a significant and explicit aspect of the film, central to its plot and often portrayed in an absurd and transgressive manner. The film features both heterosexual and homosexual intimate acts.
Witchcraft & Occult
Witchcraft and occult themes are fundamental to the film's premise and narrative, featuring ghosts, spirits, possession, and exorcisms as central plot devices.
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Additional Context
Best For Ages
The content of "A Useful Ghost (2025)" is recommended for audiences aged 18 and older. This recommendation is based on the presence of explicit sexual content, including several gay sex scenes and scenes depicting intimacy between a human and a ghost-possessed vacuum cleaner, graphic language, and themes of political violence, including electroshock therapy and depictions of state-sanctioned memory erasure. The film's complex themes and mature depictions make it unsuitable for younger viewers.
Good to Know
"A Useful Ghost (2025)" is a highly allegorical film that uses its fantastical premise to comment on complex sociopolitical issues in Thailand, including class, pollution, state violence, and the LGBTQ+ experience. Its unique blend of genres means that comedic elements often accompany darker, more serious themes. The film's primary focus on queer relationships and political commentary, rather than lighthearted entertainment, should be a key consideration for parents.
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