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Film Review: Leio (2022) by Chalit Kraileadmongkol and Chitpol Ruanggun

A mainstream-ready creature feature throwback from Thailand.

Over the past few years, Thail cinema has started to break through the ranks of the international stranglehold on genre output that had previously benefitted Japan, South Korea, and most recently Indonesia as the top choices in terms of Asian Horror cinema. From the likes of Krasue: Inhuman Kiss, The Medium, and The Maid most prominently demonstrated, the country is starting to produce a slew of high-quality titles to make its case in the world which have mostly been relegated to localized-favored releases which have simply appealed quite well to international audiences. Now, former VFX artist turns his hand to directing with his debut effort “” which aims for a more international tone and flavor.

With his popstar career going downhill, Kao () goes back to his native village where he accepts an offer to partake in a drilling competition that could get him a lot of money. Deciding to team up with his partner Jane () and cousin Yo (), they head out into the desert under the instructions of Fon () who informs everyone of the rules of the competition and sends them off to try their best in finding the dried-up water supply. But the underground tunnels hide more than just water, as what they do not realize is that a mysterious beast lurks underground.

Generally, “Leio” has a lot to like about it. Most of the positives here stem from the mainstream-friendly script by Charoen Kaithitsuwan that allows for a highly familiar series of immersion points to develop. The whole setup of Kao retiring from his life in the fast lane to return to his roots and rediscover his childhood friends works to start everything with a well-worn concept. As well, that serves to introduce the audience to Kao as a man who's attempting to do the right thing rather than looking for an easy payout. Looking to use the money as a means of helping him to reconnect with his family legacy with Yo and Jane while reconnecting with Fon who stayed behind in the village, comes off as a common tactic but still works well here. The concept of the competition drilling to find the water source also serves to get people out of the community and into the desert where the creature can utilize several advantages quite effectively. Utilizing the undiscovered nature of its existence to launch several surprise attacks or its massive tunneling speed to travel quickly undetected, everything comes off rather nicely.

With that strong of a setup, “Leio” manages quite a lot of fun creature attacks. Using the aspects of its biology and physical attributes quite well, the ability to burrow underground at high speeds and pop out of the ground allows for some solid ambushes in the first half. Likewise, the gliding ability is put on display in several genuinely impressive attacks where it launches out of the sky to grab unsuspecting victims. The centerpiece sequences here are far more impressive, though, letting the creature pull off massive attacks in broad daylight with multiple participants trying to evade it and get away alive. This results in sequences like the initial attack on the drillers in the middle of the desert, the escape attempt where it crashes the campsite to find a place to nap, and the stellar trap to catch it while a rescue mission is launched to rescue the captured victims. This sequence shows off the creatures' abilities in some rather fun high-energy action scenes that are given a slick, glossy appeal that provides plenty to like about it.

There are some minor issues in “Leio” but are luckily not that detrimental. The main drawback here is the rather overlong running time that emerges from having a bit too much excess in the first half. The exploits involving how Kao gets caught and dumped from his career, forcing the return visit are much too long. That becomes especially true when coupled with the flashbacks involving him growing up together that serve a fine point but get included a few too many times. As well, there's the usual amount of rather wacky and somewhat confusingly-added comedy present that becomes somewhat of a hindrance. The smarmy driller constantly hitting on Fon comes off as expected, but the slapstick antics and mugging that goes on from the workers who are a part of the water-searching competition are cringe-worthy. The other issue with this one is the small issues that crop up involving the creature, which are quite easy to see. The fact that it's shown way too early in the film feels like a mistake, as the revelation should've been done once it attacks the group rather than being seen near the beginning. As well as the obvious CGI used in bringing it to screen, these issues stand out and bring it down overall.

Maintaining a slew of positives and only a few minor drawbacks, “Leio” features quite a lot of likable features which make the movie a lot of fun and another in an emerging line of impressive Thailand genre efforts. Fans of high-quality movies or looking for a similarly-styled genre effort will have plenty to like about it.

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