‘How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies’ movie review: A sweet, funny, and heartwarming tragicomedy 

A still from ‘How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies’.
| Photo Credit: Netflix Asia/YouTube

There is nothing radically different about How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies for anyone bought up on a steady diet of Indian films of a certain vintage, from 1976’s Zindagi to 2003’s Baghban. There is the stoic, sacrificing elder, the unthinking, grasping younger people, the scheming daughter-in-law, the good-time wastrel, and the callow youth who learns important life lessons while caring for an older relative.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, inspired by screenwriter Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn’s care of his grandmother during COVID-19 and director Pat Boonnitipat’s experiences with his maternal grandmother who took care of him and was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, is nevertheless charming and brings up a lump in one’s throat as many times as it does a smile on the face.

The film opens with 79-year-old street congee seller Mengju (Usha Seamkhum) celebrating the Qingming Festival (a day when the Chinese remember their dead) with her daughter, Sew (Sarinrat Thomas) and sons, Kiang (Sanya Kunakorn) and Soei (Pongsatorn Jongwilas). Kiang, a wealthy stockbroker, is married to Pinn (Duangporn Oapirat). The couple have a daughter, Rainbow (Himawari Tajiri). Sew is not so well off and struggles to make ends meet, while her son, M (Putthipong Assaratanakul), has dropped out of college to become a gamer, hoping to get rich streaming games. Soei is addicted to gambling and owes a lot of money, hoping for his mother to bail him out as always.

Mengju says she wants to be buried in a big grave so her family will be blessed with good fortune when everyone sees how well they have looked after their mother and will bring the family together to remember her. Two things happen to nudge M towards another way of getting rich quickly. Mengju is diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer, and M’s cousin, Mui (Tontawan Tantivejakul), as the sole carer of a wealthy relative, inherits his estate, much to the dismay of his selfish children.

M decides to move in with Mengju and take care of her, hoping she leaves all her money to him. In the beginning, Mengju and M are at cross purposes with M not understanding the need to wake up at 4 to sell congee (the early bird gets the worm, which is not so nice for the worm, he comments), and with time, they become closer.

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There is simplicity and beauty in How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies and a delight in seeing Thailand through the eyes of an insider rather than the usual Hollywood picture-postcard exoticism.

It gets difficult to believe Assaratanakul and Seamkhum are making their feature film debuts, watching their assured performances— Assaratanakul has acted before on television. It is no surprise that How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has seen success domestically in Thailand as well as internationally. There is always space in our hearts for a film about connections and family in the fragmented, isolated times we live.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is currently streaming on Netflix