Being a heartthrob has its perks and rarely any disadvantages, except in GTH's latest romance comedy May Who? as its lead female character (who has the same name as the film title) has an uncanny capability to conduct electricity when her pulse rate races above 120 beats per minute.Any boy who gets her heart throbbing will be in for a shock.It's an unusual premise (both conceptually and scientifically) but one that is nevertheless used to its advantage. Filmmaker Chayanop Boonprakob who directed 2011's SuckSeed brings most of his film approach and style to May Who? - a romance comedy filled with slapstick gags and dramatic sitcom.While SuckSeed had a heavier angle on youth fulfilling their dreams and aspirations as rock band musicians, this film exploits its male lead's talent of manga art and allows sketched visuals to depict dreamy and imaginative scenes of love and adventure.Pong's (Thiti Mahyotaruk) love and gift for sketching makes for great entertainment. It helps to balance the dosage of outright hilarity, fancy dreams and boy-girl melodrama where May (Sutatta Udomsilp) overcomes the conflicts induced by her natural ability to discharge electricity.She does this by wearing a smart watch on her wrist to warn her when her pulse rate rockets skywards. What an opportunity for smart watch brands to justify their use in daily life. If only Elsa had one that warned her of blizzard fits to prevent her from striking chills in Frozen.
While the film could have gone down the dark and melodramatic route like how Elsa hid from everyone in Frozen, it is after all a GTH production where jokes and laughter are necessary. Photography is overly bright to signify an overall cheerful mood.Tender moments are observed when characters are learning how to decipher what they are feeling - whether is it love and how do they curb their feelings when required. May recites the multiplication table when she needs to distract herself from heart-throbbing moments. These are part and parcel of teenagers' coming-of-age experience, which hits the right note with the film's target audience.Pong and May both undergo similar rituals exploring their destinies with their puppy love crushes - Mink (Narikunn Katepraphakorn) and Fame (Thanapob Leeratanakajorn), who are both perceived as being on the upper tiers in school - idols who are unattainable.Elaborated in the film's opening monologue, Pong opines that there are various social tiers that define school life. There are the pretty cheerleaders who command popularity and sports athletes who garner fans. Nerds who only focuses on academic excellence are seen to be somewhere in the lower half of the social tier. There is also the one and only school idol who excels in nearly every field - be it sports, leadership or charming good looks.As a genre film, GTH does no wrong here and May Who? should be well received by target film audience and box office registers