Best new Thai Movies in 2020 & 2019 (Netflix, Prime, Hulu & Cinema List) • The Vore

List of the latest Thai movies in 2020 and the best Thai movies of 2019 & the 2010's. Top Thai movies to watch on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+ & other Streaming services, out on DVD/Blu-ray or in cinema's right now.

New Thai movies in 2020 in Cinema & on VOD

Top movies up for release in 2020 in cinema and on VOD

The Cave

DIRECTOR: Tom Waller
CAST: Ron Smoorenburg, Kelly B. Jones & Lawrence de Stefano
Tragedy befalls a Thai soccer team when they find themselves trapped inside a cave. As rescue workers scramble to save them, different points of view are seen from the men trapped beneath rock to the men above trying accomplish rescue operations, utilizing everything from water pumps to cave divers. This survival drama is based on the real-life Tham Luang cave rescue of 2018 and features several people involved in the incident playing themselves, including cave diver Jim Warny.
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Best Thai movies on Netflix or DVD in 2020

2019, 2018, 2017 and the 2010's best rated Thai movies out on DVD, Bluray or streaming on VOD (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+ & More).

Inhuman Kiss

DIRECTOR: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
CAST: Phantira Pipityakorn, Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang & Sapol Assawamunkong
Sai may seem like an innocent and typical girl during the day in her far-off village. But come nightfall, her head detaches from her body as she becomes the monster Krause, an evil spirit of Thai folklore that seeks to feast on flesh under cover of darkness. The Krause appears disturbing at night with no body, floating with its internal organs dangling externally beneath the neck. The villagers are terrified of this monster terrorizing their livestock but friends of Sai may stand beside her when the villagers want to slaughter the Krause. Read more

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Manta Ray

DIRECTOR: Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
CAST: Aphisit Hama, Wanlop Rungkamjad, Rasmee Wayrana
An eccentric fisherman finds a nearly drowned Rohingya refugee. He decides to offer the man shelter and the two of them form an unlikely friendship. Read more

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Malaysian movies 2020

A Prayer Before Dawn

DIRECTOR: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
CAST: Joe Cole, Vithaya Pansringarm, Panya Yimmumphai, Nicolas Shake
Billy Moore ends up in a Thai prison after a stupid mistake. In order to survive, he partakes in Muay Thai boxing tournaments. 'A Prayer Before Dawn ' is one of the most brutal, depressing and mesmerizing prison films you're likely to see. Read more

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RATING: 77/100

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By the Time it Gets Dark

DIRECTOR: Anocha Suwichakornpong
CAST: Arak Amornsupasiri Apinya Sakuljaroensuk Achtara Suwan

'By the Time it Gets Dark' is a contemplative and meandering film about several lives that are loosely connected. As a whole, it paints a beautiful of both contemporary Thai history and the art of filmmaking. Read more

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RATING: 80/100

RELEASE DATE: January 27th, 2017

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Tae peang phu deaw

DIRECTOR: Kongdej Jaturanrasamee
CAST: Margot Chung Weerasak Glunrawd Nastnathakit Intarasut

Two Friends, Lek and Kong, one of them being a locksmith, have made it a hobby to break into other people’s houses and stay there for a while to drink their wine, watch television, but not really steal anything. One day, things go wrong and the film takes a totally unexpected and different course. A fascinating mystery ensues. Read more

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RATING: 71/100

RELEASE DATE: November 12th, 2012

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36

DIRECTOR: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
CAST: Vajrasthira Koramit Wanlop Rungkamjad Nottapon Boonprakob

Memories fade, but photographs live forever. This experimental film explores the differences in this digital age between our own real memories and the memories we capture, meaning the photographs we make. The title of the movie is to be taken literally, as it consists of only 36 static shots, all more random than spectacular. If the main characters are in it or not does not matter, the camera will not move. Life is simple. Read more

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RATING: 70/100

RELEASE DATE: February 6th, 2012

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Dao khanong (By the Time It Gets Dark)

DIRECTOR: Anocha Suwichakornpong
CAST: Arak Amornsupasiri Apinya Sakuljaroensuk Achtara Suwan

'By the Time it Gets Dark' is a beautiful and melancholic film, exploring the massacre during a student uprising in Bangkok, 1976. Director/writer Anocha Suwichakornpong chooses to tell her story through identity shifting characters that are different and somehow the same. Read more

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RATING: 66/100

RELEASE DATE: August 10th, 2016

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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

DIRECTOR: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
CAST: Thanapat Saisaymar Jenjira Pongpas Sakda Kaewbuadee

It would be a shame not including The Palme D’or of 2010 in this list. It is certainly not Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s best film, but it’s definitely a good start for exploring his oeuvre for film lovers not familiar with him. Because of its sheer absurdity (you will see a man in a monkey suit) it’s quite inarguably his most accessible to date. Read more

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RATING: 66/100

RELEASE DATE: September 25th, 2010

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In April the Following Year, There was a fire

DIRECTOR: Wichanon Somunjarn
CAST: Wichanon Somunjarn

This Thai independent film, with its cool title, is a typical example of fun meta-cinema. It’s quite obvious that the main character is supposed to represent the director himself, so we quickly get into the areas of self-reflection and portrayal, which always proves to be interesting, but sometimes also a tiny bit forgettable. Read more

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RATING: 62/100

RELEASE DATE: January 31st, 2012

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Mekong Hotel

DIRECTOR: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
CAST: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Mekong HOTEL is a mix between a horror movie, a documentary and a boring movie rehearsal that gives you the creeps of alienation. Do not ask me what it’s about. Just see it for yourself. It’s weird and annoying for sure, but also strangely pretty and entertaining in its laziness. Read more

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RATING: 60/100

RELEASE DATE: March 16th, 2013

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Motel Mist

DIRECTOR: Prabda Yoon
CAST: Prapamonton Eiamchan Vasuphon Kriangprapakit Wissanu Likitsathaporn

Motel Mist is a very entertaining sci-fi film, obviously flirting with exploitation cinema, but in a rather stylish way. The story evolves around four different persons all staying in the same motel, for various reasons. Weird, funny and shocking. Read more

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RATING: 52/100

RELEASE DATE: January 30th, 2016

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Thai Cinema is probably best known for director Weerasethekul Apichatpong. If anything, he is proof of the abolute unique character of the cinema of Thailand. Please make sure you’ll watch some other gems too! Since the end of the 90s, Thai cinema has been building up international presence. Before then, the Cinema of Thailand was really at the bottom of the barrel and nobody paid attention to it. But with the emergence of a new breed of young filmmakers, both artistically and intellectually more audacious, the national film industry enjoyed a prosperous development. Directors like Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives, 2010) – he also goes by the name of “Joe” – and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Last Life in the Universe), have helped Thailand contribute substantially to the international film scene for the past 15 years. Being part of the so-called new wave in Thai Cinema at the turn of the century, they created a logical gateway for the flourishing of Thai Independent Film. Many new artists have come on the scene to try and experiment, and to express their own voice, in whatever way befits them best.

By giving you a list of the most interesting Thai films of the decade so far, this article should serve as a perfect introductory to Thai Independent and Contemporary Cinema for beginners.

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