How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

A greedy schemer tries to get in on his gran's inheritance money in this charming comedy-drama from Thailand that's become a huge hit across Asia

Film Review by Louis Cammell | 16 Dec 2024
  • How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
Film title: How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
Director: Pat Boonnitipat
Starring: Putthipong Assaratanakul, Usha Seamkhum
Release date: 26 Dec
Certificate: 12A

A good-for-nothing Twitch streamer attempts to worm his way into his dying grandmother’s good graces for financial gain in the feature debut of Thai director Pat Boonnitipat. When the screen-addicted M (Putthipong Assaratanakul) finds out that his ‘amah’ (Usha Seamkhum) has Stage 4 cancer, he decides to trade in his (non-existent) professional gaming career for a few weeks of hardcore brown-nosing that will guarantee he is first in line for her inheritance.

Beyond the clickbaity title is a perfectly-pitched comedy-drama that stays as far from the exploitative as it does from the saccharine, instead painting a heart-rendingly authentic family portrait anchored by Assaratanakul’s performance. To use streamer-speak, his resting derp face belies an underlying charisma that's wielded with just enough restraint so as to sneak up on you, as it does on his character’s target. Seamkhum’s own charm, as his elderly relative who he realises too late he can’t live without, is hidden behind her own deceptive performance as the at-first prickly pensioner. Both actors’ smiles burn holes through the screen, yet they deploy them sparingly to great effect.

Similarly to 2019’s The Farewell, grandma’s imminent death kicks off an exploration of the moral complexities of white lies. When should we protect our loved ones from hard truths, and who gets to decide? Without discussing them outright, the film’s characters bump clumsily against such questions. As with real life, resolution sometimes eludes them. Boonnitipat does an expert job of avoiding easy answers while still delivering a recognisable – yet fresh – narrative arc.


Released 26 Dec by Vertigo Releasing; certificate 12A