Homophobia, which can be expressed both manifestly and subtly, has been brought to film from various approaches and cinematography. One of the films that addresses this issue, even from its symbolic and recurring title, is 'Human Too', by Thai director and producer Supannasa Sirikuptapasan.
The premiere of the LGBTIQ+ themed romantic drama took place on February 28, 2024 and is based on a script written by the filmmaker himself. With a duration of 44 minutes, Supannasa Sirikuptapasan turns the fear, rejection and hatred towards homosexual people into a film.
Nueng is a gay teenager who is the victim of bullying. The son of absent parents, he faces verbal and physical violence every day from his classmates. Likewise, the teachers and school directors, as part of a patriarchal society, deny him the necessary protection.
The story reaches its climax once Nueng is led, by the circumstances in which he lives, to consider taking his own life, with which we immerse ourselves with him in a true endless nightmare, a tunnel in which there seems to be no exit. The physical and psychological torture to which Nueng is subjected hurts us in our own flesh.
Supannasa Sirikuptapasan takes the risks and dares to show us through his film one of the cruelest and most regrettable truths of Thai reality and also, why not, universal: the homophobia that exists in a conservative country with strong patriarchal and heteronormative traditions. The film constitutes a shocking social denunciation against the discrimination and harassment that homosexuals around the world have suffered and continue to suffer at some point.
Patiphan Namsamut's performance is convincing. With his appearance, the actor gives life to a tormented boy. Key, as he likes to call himself, was very clear that he was the key for the public to perceive homophobia and the physical and mental damage it causes in those who suffer from it. His role stands out for providing humanity to the adolescent trapped between hatred, shame and misunderstanding.
For his part, Win Witthawidth Kittitheeranon, his best friend, platonic love and the only person who always protects him, plays a worthy co-star role, among other things because this young man, whom we could see in the short film 'Names', from 2023 , makes Key's work even greater, an eloquent example of support between two artists in front of the camera.
After causing her harm, Tong admits to himself his love for Nueng and without hesitation comes out to his mother. Other flights also correspond to its role, such as showing the dehumanization of those who promote homophobia.
The dramatic charge reaches a high level in each scene, especially in the moments of harassment and on the roof of the building where the also protagonist of the love triangle in the film 'Limerence', from 2023, intends to jump into the void.
Portraying sexual assault, physical and verbal violence, mental and cyberbullying, on the one hand, and the support and accompaniment that the protagonist receives from Tong and the father's acceptance of his son's homosexuality, on the other, magnifies the film, taking it beyond the coordinates of cinema of social denunciation to become a medium-length film of discovery, acceptance, coming of age, personal transformation and maturation.
The photography by Jirayu Khositwansakul, Tanayut Sawarut and Sirichai Chaisirimit contribute to narrating in detail each of the tribulations of its protagonist, from the scenes of harassment and discrimination to those of receiving the long-awaited declaration of love, from the violent initial scenes in a depressed and gray high school to the bucolic and bright of Nueng hugging Tong after defying death.