Joe is dead!
Meet schoolboy Joe for a few minutes, because after a few minutes, Joe will go to heaven as he gets hit by a vehicle, and now Joe is DEAD! But a naughty schoolboy sees his chance to change his hopeless future, and he pretends he cares about Joe He’s going to make a short film about his best friend Joe and celebrate his life because Joe is DEAD! This can get him into a university so that he doesn’t need to work for his father. Joe wrote a short story that won a short story competition, and they are going to make a short film out of the winning script. But he meets a girl who turns out to be, or was, a close friend of good old DEAD Joe! She isn’t happy with the naughty schoolboy, so she watches him closely when they agree to celebrate Joe in a respectful way as they and some other students make the short film about the good, old DEAD Joe.
“Not Friends” is a solid movie about coming together to celebrate the life of a student. The problem is that just one of them knows the real Joe, or knew, while the rest of the group are clueless about who Joe was. But this experience will make a better schoolboy out of the naughty protagonist who is a sort of psycho after he sliced a girl in her face when she beat him up. So the naughty schoolboy had to change schools since he’s a psycho, and he got beat up by a girl! Haha, what a loser!
The protagonist has a punchable face, and he’s not a character you care about since he’s so selfish. But he’s saved by the charming tone of the movie and the characters around him, especially the girl who knew the real Joe. The actress has such a goofy smile that will make your heart go BOOM, BOOM! So keep an eye on Thitiya Jirapornsilp. I see that she and the actor who plays the protagonist in “Not Friends” also acted together in a movie made in the same year as this one, “You & Me & Me.” I think I need to watch that movie too.
The first hour offers a lot of charm and warmth, and the movie melts a Viking man’s heart. The second hour is more serious when it turns out that Joe wasn’t a perfect person. So be prepared for a twist.
As expected, the protagonist, who is initially a rotten apple, starts seeing the world with new eyes. He changes as a person after interactions with the girl who was Joe’s real friend. He starts fantasizing about Joe, and I started wondering if the protagonist was in love with good, old, DEAD Joe. The gayness is strong in several scenes.
“Not Friends” is a heartwarming and charming movie about changing as a person. Selfishness can be the key to success for some, but taking advantage of another person’s death is not cool, and that is the self-discovery journey that the protagonist must take to come out the other end of the tunnel as a better person. And the key to that transformation is good, old, DEAD Joe, and his short story.