Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya's debut feature “Countdown” is three-way fun. It can be enjoyed as a juicy one-off; it can be a good starting point for a binge on the director's oeuvre; finally, it's a fun watch if you have already seen his more popular following movies “Bad Genius” and “One for The Road”, as you will be able to spot the seeds of his creative process and have fun joining the dots.
Jack (Pachara Chirathivat), Bee (Jariporn Junkiet), and Pam (Peak Patarasaya) are three Thai friends sharing a flat in NYC, where they are supposed to study but instead spend all their parents' money in anything recreational. For 2012 New Year's Eve their plan is to score some drugs and just get high at home watching the countdown on the telly; punctual as an angel of death, a new dealer called Jesus (a terrific David Asavanond) is at their door with a hollowed Bible, stuffed with joints. As the night progresses though, Jesus turns from friendly to annoying, to full-blown psychopath and he seems to know a great deal about the three kids' secrets. Who is he really? And why is he brandishing a nail gun?
Poonpiriya chooses the creepy “home invasion” horror/thriller sub-genre to boldly introduce us to his universe of naughty-but-nice youngsters, dark humour, regret, atonement, and karma; all themes that he will explore in different nuances in his later works. Inspired by the Buddhist and Christian different concept of sin and atonement, an early scene in a confessional sets the mood for a story that spirals down to hell on a steady and fast pace, thanks to an energetic direction, a skillful editing, great control of sound and music and a clever use of the claustrophobic location; all this within the budget of a dinner out for 6 in Manhattan.
