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A Useful Ghost

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A Useful Ghost
Thai theatrical release poster
Thaiผีใช้ได้ค่ะ
Directed byRatchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Written byRatchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Produced by
  • Cattleya Paosrijaroen
  • Soros Sukhum
  • Karim Aitouna
  • Tan Si En
  • Zoraya Musikic
  • Chayamporn Taeratanachai
  • Kris Eiamsakulrat
  • Cod Satrusayang
  • May Odeh
Starring
CinematographyPasit Tandaechanurat
Edited byChonlasit Upanigkit
Music byChaibovon Seelukwa
Production
companies
185 Films
  • Haut Les Mains
  • Momo Films
  • Mayana Films
  • Kliff Studios
  • N8
  • Cinema22
Distributed byGDH 559 (Thailand)
Release dates
  • May 17, 2025 (2025-05-17) (Cannes)
  • August 28, 2025 (2025-08-28) (Thailand)
Running time
130 minutes
Countries
  • Thailand
  • France
  • Singapore
  • Germany
Languages

A Useful Ghost (Thai: ผีใช้ได้ค่ะ, romanized: Phi Chaidai Kha) is a 2025 supernatural black comedy-drama[1] film directed and written by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, in his directorial debut. It stars Davika Hoorne, Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjad, and Wisarut Homhuan. The film is a co-production of Thailand, France, Singapore, and Germany.

The film had its world premiere at the Critics' Week section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 17 May, where it won the Grand Prix.[2] It was theatrically released in Thailand on 28 August by GDH 559. It was selected as the Thai entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards,[3] but was not on the list of films accepted by the academy.[4]

Plot

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A self-described "academic ladyboy" is overwhelmed by the dust stirred up by his city's renewal projects and purchases a vacuum cleaner to tidy his apartment. At night he overhears his new vacuum coughing, and in the morning finds that it has expelled the dust it had cleaned. The Ladyboy calls for a repairman, who arrives almost instantly. The repairman, Krong, tells him that the vacuum is physically fine but haunted by a ghost, and that many ghosts haunted the factory that produced it. Smitten with the handsome Krong, the Ladyboy allows him to tell the tale of the haunted factory.

Suman, the heir of her late husband's electronics factory, is troubled by the vengeful spirit of Tok, an employee who died of congenital heart disease on the job. Tok blames the factory for having catalyzed his death and frequently interrupts work by posessing machinery and angrily complaining. Tok is anchored to the physical world because someone close to him remembers his life. Tok's spirit violates hygenics regulations, and Suman loses her license to operate the factory, forcing it to close.

March, the younger of Suman's two sons, is mourning the recent loss of his wife Nat and their unborn child to a respiratory disease. While attending an investigation into Tok's haunting of the factory, March sees the spirit of Nat walking into an inventory warehouse and follows her. Nat possess a vacuum cleaner and seduces March. His family and religious authorities are disturbed to discover the young man sexually engaging with a haunted appliance and March is taken to a hospital.

Nat, still attatched to the vacuum cleaner, travels to the hospital to visit March. On the way, she befriends the Prime Minister of Thailand, Dr. Paul, by cleaning the dust irritating his eyes. March now sees Nat as a human, and the two happily reunite, but Suman is again disturbed to find him making out with a vacuum. Nat stays with March through his stay at the hospital and the two discuss restarting their family by utilizing Nat's frozen eggs.

Under pressure from her conservative in-laws, who never liked Nat, Suman confronts Nat with Buddhist monks who attempt to exorcise her. Nat is unfazed, and Suman responds by accusing her of stealing the vacuum cleaner, having it confiscated and disassembled by police. Dr. Paul intervenes, citing Nat as a "good ghost" who should be supported, dropping the charges and repairing the appliance. Frustrated, Suman resorts to having March committed to a psychiatric institution where he recieves electroshock therapy designed to damage his memory; if he forgets Nat, her bond to the physical world will be severed and she will disappear.

Nat still manages to see March by entering his dreams, but as the therapy continues her form begins to fade. Nat enters Suman's dream, where she is violently taking out her resentment of her in-laws, and pleas for her to stop the treatment. Having been financially backed into a corner due to the ongoing haunting and closure of the factory, Suman strikes a deal with Nat.

The factory is "re-opened," but it is a ruse to gather the employees and drug them to sleep so that Nat may systematically enter their dreams and deduce whose memories are allowing Tok to haunt the factory. Nat discovers Tok visiting his boyfriend Pin's dreams, and Suman confronts Pin. She offers an ultimatum: recieve electroshock therapy to forget Tok, or lose his job. This triggers a violent attack from Tok, posessing a refrigerator, and Nat intervenes to save Suman's life. Pin is escorted away to recieve the therapy, and having earned a reputation as a "good ghost" by saving Suman and the factory, Nat is now seen by everyone in her human form.

Dr. Paul summons Nat and March to his home, ostensibly to celebrate her, but ambushes her with a group of political and military figures who are haunted by ghosts stemming from violence by which they have perpetuated or benefited. Some ghosts are fueled by the direct memories of loved ones, others by political dissidents familiar with history. Dr. Paul begs Nat for help and has rigged the electroshock therapy lab so that it can be used to systemically investigate dreams and "treat" those who remember ghosts. Nat refuses the unethical request, but when Dr. Paul offers to clear the bureaucratic red tape preventing her and March from using her frozen eggs, she agrees.

Nat's project to mass-exorcise politically inconvenient ghosts is successful, but disgusts March and drives a wedge between the couple. March claims that Nat has changed so much he is forgetting who she used to be, and attempts to keep the memory of the eradicated ghosts alive by studying the history of political violence. On the day that Nat recieves her baby, she sells March out to Dr. Paul. However, before this information can be acted upon, March has a coughing fit that knocks over a bust of Nat commissioned by Dr. Paul; the bust falls on March and sends him to the hospital, the injury causing him to either die or at the very least forget Nat for good. Nat fades away, leaving a regretful Sumar alone in the hospital with the baby.

Over the course of telling the story, Krong finds himself attracted to the Ladyboy's growing distate for Nat's actions and her willingness to sacrifice her own kind for her personal gain. The two make love, and the Ladyboy deduces that Krong is not actually the repairman but the ghost haunting his vacuum. Krong reveals that he was murdered by having his feet encased in concrete and being thrown into a lake; he is tied to the physical world by his daughter's memories, which, thanks to Nat, are almost completely destroyed by Dr. Paul's electroshock therapy. They make love again, and the Ladyboy vows to remember Krong as the ghost disappears.

The Ladyboy dives into the lake and retrieves the concrete block containing Krong's feet, delivering them to Dr. Paul. Reconstituted by this act, Krong and a group of other vengeful ghosts invade Dr. Paul's home with the help of his staff and kill him, his family and associates.

Cast

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Production

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The project participated in the 2021 Locarno Film Festival's Open Doors program, where it won the top prize and received a production grant of 35,000 CHF.[5] In October 2022, the project was announced as part of Singaporean production company Momo Film Co.'s slate.[6] In May 2023, it was reported that French production company Haut Les Mains would co-produce the film.[7] In July 2023, it was selected as one of the recipients of Hubert Bals Fund+Europe: Minority Co-production Support during the International Film Festival Rotterdam.[8] In November 2023, it received a €35,000 production grant from Berlinale's World Cinema Fund.[9]

Release

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A Useful Ghost had its world premiere on 17 May 2025 at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics' Week section.[10][11][12] It won the section's Grand Prix.[2][1] In April 2025, Best Friend Forever had acquired the film's international rights.[13]

On 28 November 2025, it will close 56th International Film Festival of India.[14]

GDH, under their Out Of The Box label, acquired local distribution rights and it set to be released in Thailand in August 28, 2025.

Reception

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Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Cannes Film Festival 24 May 2025 Critics' Week Grand Prix Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke Won [1]
Caméra d'Or Nominated
Sitges Film Festival 18 October 2025 Best Feature Film A Useful Ghost Nominated [15]
Best Screenplay Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke Won [16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Dalton, Ben (22 May 2025). "Thai comedy-drama 'A Useful Ghost' wins top prize at Cannes Critics' Week 2025". Screen International. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b Goodfellow, Melanie (21 May 2025). "Cannes Critics' Week Winners: Thai Film 'A Useful Ghost' & 'Imago' Take Top Prizes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  3. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (20 August 2025). "Thailand Selects Cannes Prize Winner 'A Useful Ghost' as Oscar Entry". Variety. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  4. ^ Pond, Steve (2025-10-24). "Oscars International Category Sends 86 Films to Voters". TheWrap. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
  5. ^ Thorne, Will (10 August 2021). "Thailand's 'A Useful Ghost' Wins Top Prize at Locarno Open Doors Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  6. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (8 October 2022). "Singapore's Momo Boards 'Andragogy,' 'A Useful Ghost,' 'Dreaming & Dying'; 'Don't Cry, Butterfly' Finds U.K. Funding – Busan ACFM (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  7. ^ Frater, Patrick (24 May 2023). "France's Haut Les Mains Boards 'A Useful Ghost,' From Thailand's 185 Films (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  8. ^ Calnan, Ellie (11 July 2023). "Rotterdam's Hubert Bals Fund unveils titles for new post-production scheme". Screen International. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  9. ^ Dams, Tim (24 November 2023). "Berlinale's World Cinema Fund backs 14 projects". Screen International. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  10. ^ "The Screenings Guide of the 78th Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  11. ^ Rithdee, Kong (14 April 2025). ""A Useful Ghost" will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  12. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (14 April 2025). "Cannes Critics' Week Unveils 2025 Selection – Full List & Details". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 16 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  13. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (14 April 2025). "Cannes' Thai Movie 'A Useful Ghost' Boarded by Best Friend Forever Ahead of Critics' Week Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  14. ^ "Japan country of focus at 56th International Film Festival of India". Telegraph India. 7 November 2025. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  15. ^ "We Complete the 2025 line-up: Guillermo del Toro, Yorgos Lanthimos, Park Chan-wook, Carmen Maura, and Other Big Names in Contemporary Fantastic Genre". Sitges Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2025-09-14. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  16. ^ "'La hermanastra fea' d'Emilie Blichfeldt, Premi a la Millor Pel·lícula a Sitges 2025 | Sitges Film Festival". sitgesfilmfestival.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 2025-10-18.
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