This review may contain spoilers
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.
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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