Wonderful Town

This Thai existential drama moves along with a great, slow peacefulness that will test the patience of many, but its effectiveness creeps up on you. The wonderful town in question has been ravaged by the 2004 Tsunami. In this poor country area, the architect Ton is overseeing the construction of a beach resort. He stays in a near-deserted beach hotel and seeks to romance the simple but elusive Na, a cleaner who seems to come with the building through her family history. That history will turn out to have drastic consequences for the couple.

The performances are restrained and natural, dialogue extremely sparse, and the quiet long-held scenes resonate with beauty and tranquility. The film is reluctant to offer much guidance as to where it may be headed, holding viewers in an atmosphere of subtle uncertainty, but for folks like myself who do favour the transpiring of at least one event of more obvious consequence, know that the film's trajectory is gradually in that direction. The soundtrack is also exceptional, a mixture of detailed natural soundscapes and, less frequently, ominous non-diegetic drones. The film's incredible restraint of development is demanding, but the complete experience is a rich one.