MuTeLuv: Not My Father!

Not my crush!

It's always great when you start a drama for one reason - and come out with a plethora of other likes. I'll just list them here because there was a lot to like about this.

1) The comedy - I started this for the comedy. I didn't have many expectations to be honest, keeping in mind both the trailer and Hi! By My Luck (the previous part of MuTeLuv) didn't quite have the kind and amount I expected respectively. But this one was actually good. Firstly, the entire cast brought the laughs, main or support. Second, the comedy didn't rely entirely on one type of comedy, they tried multiple genres and most of them worked!

2) The romance - I loved Parn and Nani in this. Don't know if it was the characters or the actors chemistry, whatever it was, they were a treat to watch on screen.

3) The characters - The great thing about comedy is that you can have several characters with varying personalities and have them all be funny. I especially loved how Wutkrai and Fay were written, four episodes is not a lot to have great characterization, but for four episodes, they did great. I wish Ploy and Phu had a bigger impact on me, but it happened in a different way than I thought it would..

.. finally. 4) The cast - I am impressed.
First with Parn. I've seen a bunch of her work, and she really brought some nuance and depth to her character that I very much appreciated.
Then Jaoying, I really liked her as Fay, the perfect mix of supportive friend and knock some sense into you onlooker. There was something about the character and her portrayal that made Fay so likeable.
I also thought Joke as Father was good - he was quite hilarious when it came to that.

Before I close out this section, my penultimate mention is Prem. Oh my sweet boy. His work on his last few previous shows had me convinced he could not act but he somehow proved me wrong here. You need a skill set to do comedy and he may have that! Again, his character didn't quite leave much of an impact on me, but I have a bit more hope now that with the right script and the right to move his face, he can bring something to the screen.

Finally - Nani! My gosh. He can do serious and comedy! His comedic timing was perfect, his character was written quirkily enough that you immediately like him and his soft and sweet side was on full display for four episodes. Plus the styling? Wow.

Of course there were a few things that I think could have been better. They weren't bad, per se, but they weren't exactly to my liking either. It's a me thing, so you may like them, but I'll just mention so all the information is in the review.

1) The story - now I didn't have much expectations from the story even going in, I just needed it to be coherent, which to their credit, it was. I just didn't like the way it flowed. Especially the last episode. It just felt like a Hail Mary they threw in to quickly wrap the story up, and while some of the plotlines were incredible (maybe not incredible, but they were good), a lot of them just didn't hit the right spots.

Not many negatives there I guess, so if you're looking for a fun, albeit slightly alarming plot, give this a try.

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Not a cult hit

There is a promising premise beneath the desperately unfunny over the top humor tone to everything with how despite initially joining the cult undercover with clear intention knowing it's a grift, Phu still falls for the charlatan cult leader's snake oil that appeals to his ego and he even takes over the cult in the end along with Ploy who also thought they could have an ethical cult. There is also an undercurrent of the cult being a satirical take on the Idol and fan system and relationship, especially in the second iteration, not unlike GMMTV's Idol events. The overall execution however is a big, long, dragged out dud despite only being 4 episodes. Nani is the lone bright spot in the entire show. He's got an inherently serious vibe that when he has to portray the over the top tone as officer Wutkrai that delusionally believes he has magic skills, there's actually a grounding balance that makes him funny. I think the show would have worked much better if the rest of the characters was cast the same way, with the most serious feeling actors, preferably with gravitas and screen presence. Phu's storyline definitely should have been given to an actor that has stronger acting abilities.

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This was such a fun and lighthearted comedy to watch! The show nailed it with its clever take on real-life. The whole cast gave a good performance, but Joke, Nani, and Prem were the standouts for me. Joke deserves major props for bringing to life a seductive con artist leading a cult and manipulating his followers. His performance was flawless from start to finish.

It was my first time seeing Nani act, and I was genuinely impressed. Comedy is tough, but he nailed it! Wutkrai was hilarious , a total mess, ridiculously lucky, and sweet in the most innocent way.

And my baby Prem? Just wow. He completely blew me away in this role. He started off as someone trying to investigate and expose the cult led by “Father,” but as the series went on, you could see those subtle flashes of madness in his eyes. That final episode was chef’s kiss , absolutely perfect.

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Go bonkers or go broke!

Prem, Nani and Joke (a.k.a. "the Father"), with support from very reliable Earn and FELIZZ member Jaoying, push "MuTeLuv" deeper into crazy territory – and everything is as it should be. Funny, bizarre, sad and scary, "Not My Father!" surprises with a layered story and concise writing, aptly translated to the screen by good, slightly unhinged performances. With minimal introductory exposition the show takes you on a well-paced ride where every section (episode) is weirder than the previous one.

While overtly a comedy with rom-com bits, "Not My Father!" stays serious where it needs to. It goes further than that when showing brainwashed cult members, conditioned to react to a silly song with an equally silly dance. It’s played for laughs, but when you think about – it’s not funny at all; actually it’s scary.

Three main layers of the story are tied to three main "crazies": Nani’s Wutkrai – the funny crazy, Joke’s "Father" – the sleazy crazy, and Prem’s Phupar – the evil crazy.

Nani does a decent job as a rom-com main character, almost entirely avoiding the annoying, pretentious pose he used in "Highschool Frenemy". His character is a bit full of himself, but is genuinely funny and has his heart in the right place – Nani mostly succeeds in conveying that.

Joke deserves praise for his performance as a manipulative conman, a sleazy fraud with an earplug prompting personal details of his victims. All about "Father" is a fabrication, including his self-confidence; once the fake front is peeled off, all that’s left is a slimy weakling – and not a very bright one. Joke does a lot for "Father" to be like many real-life cult leaders: an unimpressive figure, a literal nobody followed by hundreds of people for no apparent reason, a guy you want to punch really hard – but can’t decide whether it’s because of the fake smile, condescending tone, arrogant behavior, stupid clothes (which his followers copy – much to your dismay) or all of that together.

Saving the best for last: Phupar is the only character with an arc – a sad and tragic one – and Prem truly brings him to life. Hiding inner struggles, secret doubts and desires – that’s something Prem portrays very well, and not for the first time. Phupar’s fall starts before the events of the show and we get only small hints of that: Prem’s kind and gentle, but inexplicably sad face lets us know that not all is well. The more Prem smiles in "Not My Father!", the scarier it gets. Initially it is a forced smile hiding problems eating him from the inside; later it becomes the smile of a madman, possessed and cunning, cold, calculating. During his final confrontation with Ploy, after a moment of weakness, Phupar smiles again, seemingly full of joy – but his eyes cast the same flashes of insanity as Kan’s eyes during his confrontation with Thap in ep. 9 of "My Magic Prophecy". Seems like GMMTV discovered that it’s actual actors can portray more complex characters – and that they can convincingly portray villains. The truly disturbing part of Phupar’s story is that we don’t get a full explanation of his downfall. Did he turn dark just because he wanted to be popular, adored and loved again? Was it egoism and nothing more? What really happened to him in ep. 3 – was he actually hallucinating or just being manipulated into believing he’s hallucinating? Whatever it was: lost, confused and abandoned he followed the only remaining path – to the abyss. Every time the real Phupar came out from behind the facade, digging himself out from beneath the crazy, I felt sorry for him, I wanted to hug him – and that’s Prem’s doing too. Well done, sir, very well done indeed.

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Mu-Te-Luv: Not Your Father

Os próximos quatro episódios, Mu-Te-Luv: Not Your Father, foram simplesmente um caos delicioso. A história gira em torno de uma seita/culto secreto, que tá conquistando um monte de gente pela província, e a coisa só vai ficando mais maluca conforme tudo se desenrola. A Ploy, toda apaixonada pelo Phupha, resolve se juntar a ele nessa missão de infiltração pra tentar expor a família Chantharusati. Só que, claro, ela também tá indo com a esperança de se aproximar mais do Phu… e as coisas não saem nem um pouco como ela imaginava.

Lá dentro, ela conhece o maravilhoso Wutthikrai, e sim, eu me derreti um pouquinho, que na verdade é um policial disfarçado e acaba ajudando ela e o Phupha a fugir de lá. A ideia de ter um culto bizarro, com um “Pai” que se acha um deus, foi uma das melhores escolhas criativas até agora. E eu juro que não consegui levar ele 100% a sério porque, por algum motivo, achei ele a cara da blogueirinha kkkkk.

E aqui, uma pausa pra aplaudir: o Prem arrasou muito como Phupha. Ele começa como esse jovem ativista cheio de ideais e, aos poucos, vai enlouquecendo com toda a manipulação do culto. A atuação dele foi intensa, convincente e bem construída. Já o Nani… eu sou suspeita, né? Além de lindo, ele tava divertidíssimo como o policial atrapalhado com “magias” que nunca funcionavam, eu ri horrores com ele. E a Pern, então? A mulher tava incrível! A cena dela fingindo ser a mãe pra enganar o “Pai” foi simplesmente uma delícia de assistir.

Eu vi umas pessoas falando mal dessa parte, mas honestamente? Eu adorei. Fogem do clichêzinho padrão e abraçam a loucura de um jeito que funciona. Caótico, divertido e bem mais criativo do que eu esperava.

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