Bad Genius, known in Thai as Chalard Games Goeng (), is a 2017 Thai heist thriller film produced by Jor Kwang Films and distributed by GDH 559. Directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya and co-written by Nattawut, Tanida Hantaweewatana, and Vasudhorn Piyaromna, it stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying in her feature film debut as Lynn, a straight-A student who devises an exams-cheating scheme which eventually rises to international levels.
Inspired by real-life news reports of a major SAT cheating scandal, the film transplants the heist structure to a school-exams setting, and features themes of class inequality as well as teenage social issues. Relative newcomers Chanon Santinatornkul, Teeradon Supapunpinyo and Eisaya Hosuwan play Lynn's classmates Bank, Pat and Grace, while veteran Thai singer and actor Thaneth Warakulnukroh plays Lynn's father. Filming took place on location in Thailand and Australia.
Bad Genius was released in Thailand on 3 May 2017, placing first at the Thai box office for two weeks and earning over 100 million baht (US$3 million), the highest-grossing Thai film of 2017. Overseas, it broke Thai film earning records in several Asian countries, including China, where it grossed over $30 million, making it the most internationally successful Thai film ever. Critics praised the film's performances (especially Chutimon's), direction, and screenplay, though some criticized its ending. Among its awards and nominations, the film won a record-breaking twelve awards at the 27th Suphannahong National Film Awards, including Best Picture.
Plot Lynn, a top secondary school student living with her father, is accepted into a prestigious school, earning a scholarship for her academic achievements. There, she is befriended by the good-natured but academically challenged Grace. Lynn begins to help Grace cheat in exams after finding out that their teacher has been leaking questions in private tutoring sessions. She is then approached by Grace's rich boyfriend Pat, who offers payment in exchange for also helping him and his friends. Although at first reluctant, Lynn agrees when she finds out that the school, despite her scholarship, collected extra fees from her father, who earns a modest income as a teacher. She devises a system of hand signals, based on certain piano pieces, and uses them to send answers during exams. Her base of clients eventually grows. However, her cheating is inadvertently revealed by Bank, another top student. She is reprimanded by her father, and also by the school, which suspends her scholarship and revokes her chance to apply for an international scholarship at university level.
Lynn returns to cheating when Pat and Grace ask her to help them with the STIC—an international standardised test for university admissions—a scheme which will earn them millions of baht. However, Lynn tells them that she can only do it with the help of Bank, who would never consider such dishonesty. Later, though, Bank, who is from a poor family and is staking his future on the same university scholarship, is attacked by thugs in the street and misses the scholarship exam. Lynn then approaches him with the offer and Bank reluctantly agrees. Together, they make preparations for the final operation. Lynn and Bank will fly to Australia in order to get a head start on the exams—which are held globally on the same day—and send back answers for Pat and Grace to distribute to their clients. However, on the eve of their flight, Pat lets slip that it was he who ordered the thugs to beat up Bank, in order to force him to join their scheme. Enraged, Bank attacks Pat and leaves. Lynn, shocked at the revelation, begins reconsidering her actions. However, Bank returns to confront Lynn and tells her to finish what she started.
In Sydney, Lynn and Bank complete the first sections of the test according to plan, but Bank is overcome by anxiety and gets caught. Lynn struggles to memorise the final section herself, but finally pulls through. She is pursued by the test administrator after feigning illness by forcing herself to be sick and leaving the test centre early, but is released when Bank denies knowing her. Returning home, Lynn finds that their scheme was a great success, but, broken by the experience, turns her back on her co-conspirators and rejects her share of the money. Some time later, she is approached by Bank, who has invested his share in revamping his mother's laundry business. Bank invites Lynn to start another scheme, this time with a much wider client base—those taking the national GAT/PAT university entrance exams. When she turns him down, Bank threatens to expose the whole affair and that she was the mastermind behind the scheme. Lynn then tells him that she has made her choice, deciding to come clean, tearfully confessing to her father, who comforts her and helps her redeem herself by submitting a formal confession to the STIC organisation.
Production Development
Bad Genius was produced by Jira Maligool and Vanridee Pongsittisak, executives and veteran producers at GDH (previously GTH). Jira came up with the film's premise when he heard on the news that SAT scores were being cancelled in China due to a cheating scandal. The producers then invited Nattawut Poonpiriya to direct the film. Nattawut had previously directed the company's 2012 psychological thriller Countdown, and the producers believed his abilities would lend themselves to developing Bad Genius as a heist film. Nattawut was immediately intrigued, and agreed to direct the project, which was developed under the working title "2B Come Won" (a reference to the 2B pencils used to fill in test choices).
Nattawut wrote the script together with Tanida Hantaweewatana and Vasudhorn Piyaromna, researching the format details of current standardised tests, as well as actual methods of exam cheating from the news. The script took about years to complete. The story was developed as a Hollywood-style heist/caper thriller, but the writers made efforts to ground it in a context that would still be relatable to a Thai audience. A major challenge, according to Nattawut, was telling the story of students taking exams—"perhaps the most boring activity on earth"—in a compelling manner. The film's secondary theme, that of the characters' contrasting social backgrounds, emerged during the writing process.
Casting
The film's main cast was relatively inexperienced—none of the four young main actors had had film roles in a major studio production prior to 2017. Lead actress Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, a fashion model, made her film acting debut as Lynn. Chanon Santinatornkul played the role of Bank, and Pat and Grace were played by Teeradon Supapunpinyo and Eisaya Hosuwan, respectively. (Teeradon and Eisaya had past TV acting experience, and Chanon had appeared in a few indie films as well.) According to Nattawut, casting for the four main actors took a long time before arriving at the four final choices, who were virtually perfect fits for their roles. He was so impressed with their work that he allowed them considerable room for improvisation during filming. The chemistry underlying Lynn and Bank's relationship, for example, was unscripted, and part of Pat's sales pitch speech was ad-libbed by Teeradon.
The only veteran actor in a major role was Thaneth Warakulnukroh, who played Lynn's father. Primarily a singer and songwriter, Thaneth had been absent from acting for over thirty years when Nattawut came across a magazine interview of him, and invited him to cast for the role. Nattawut noted that Thaneth's performance led him to modify the script and make the father less controlling, resulting in a more profound father-daughter relationship.
The cast underwent acting workshops for a couple of months before filming commenced. Romchat Tanalappipat served as acting coach, and worked with the actors before and during filming. Special preparations by the actors include Chutimon practising writing with her left hand, as her character is left-handed, and Chanon memorising the value of pi to beyond the 30th digit.
Filming
Most of the filming took place in Thailand, while approximately 30 percent, by Nattawut's estimate, was shot on location in Sydney, Australia. Some ten crew members flew to Australia from Thailand, while most of the Sydney filming unit was sourced locally. Filming in Sydney was subject to many more restrictions than in Thailand, including strictly limited shooting times. A particularly challenging scene to film was a chase sequence shot at the underground section of Redfern railway station, which had to be fitted into the trains' normal running schedule.
Nattawut had, since his early advertising work, frequently collaborated with cinematographer Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun. According to Phaklao, while most of Bad Genius shots were designed in advance, some were improvised and designed on set. Others, like the mid-story exam sequence, necessitated advance detailed storyboarding and blocking. Nattawut also noted the challenge posed by the exam scenes, as the mundane action forced him to rely on the camerawork to convey suspense; the mid-story scene in particular comprised 200 shots for four pages of screenplay. Compared to his earlier work on Countdown, Nattawut says he learned to accept more input from the cast and crew instead of strictly trying to fulfil his visions. He found that asking Phaklao for opinions on shots led to better results, and editor Chonlasit Upanigkit also helped with his keen sense during post-production.
Stylistically, Nattawut says he was inspired partly by 1970s thrillers such as The Conversation, The Parallax View and All the President's Men, leading him to mix in a certain retro/vintage style in Bad Genius. Stills from The Godfather were used as a colour palette reference during post-production work with Kantana Post Production. Nattawut also used 2011's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as a reference. The retro style was also factored in the costume design, according to costume designer Pawaret Wongaram, who was also familiar with Nattawut from their work in advertising and joined Bad Genius as her first feature film. The score was composed by Hualampong Riddim's Vichaya Vatanasapt, who employed gradually intensifying cyclical elements to help build suspense.
The film was officially announced by GDH at a press event on 20 April 2017, along with the release of its theme song "Mong Chan Tee" (, which translates as "Look at Me"). Performed by Suthita Chanachaisuwan, the song is a rearrangement of the song "Why Can't You See" by Thai indie pop band Fwends, with new lyrics by Apiwat Eurthavornsuk.
Release and reception
Bad Genius premiered in Thailand on 3 May 2017 at 20:00, in early preview screenings prior to its full release the following day. It earned positive responses from viewers. The film was shown on 216 screens, earning 44.15 million baht (US$1.3 million) over its opening weekend and placing first at Thailand's box office for two consecutive weeks. It passed 100 million baht—a success benchmark for Thai films—on 20 May, and by the end of its theatrical run on 14 June, had earned 112.15 million baht ($3.3 million), making it the highest-grossing Thai film of 2017.
The film was released internationally throughout East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It placed first at Hong Kong's box office on its opening weekend, while in Taiwan and Malaysia, the film opened to limited screens but rapidly gained popularity by online word-of-mouth, also rising to the top of the box office in Taiwan. It broke records for highest-grossing Thai film in Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.