Witthaya Thongyooyong’s new film Brother of the Year explores siblinghood love and rivalry in a comedic way that many people will be able to relate to. It may become engaging to those who have siblings whilst leaving an only child wishing he or she had at least one.

Brother of the Year is a film that brings happiness, laughter, tears and an ending that touches the audience’s heart. Despite the language barrier, the subtitles are easy to understand and the humor easy to grasp.

In his most hilarious yet clever way, Thongyooyong is able to educate the audience on the values of having a sibling and what it means to be there for each other for life.

The hugely successful Thai movie starts out as a rom-com filled with traces of zoom and sound effects found in comics to enhance the comedic atmosphere, but transitions into a more mature cinematographic piece to create a love-hate relationship drama as tensions grow.

Heart-throb Sunny Suwanmethanon plays the leading role as older brother, Chut. As a boy, he is an average student who enjoys reading Japanese comic books and hoped to share his baseball hobby with a younger brother but as fate would have it, his mother gives birth to a sister who grows up to outshine him, she achieves straight A’s, she is their mother’s favorite and she is much better than her brother at baseball.

Actress Urassaya Sperbund performs beautifully in her role as the “perfect sister” Jane. She steals every scene and there is no doubt she will go far in her career. Jane’s wardrobe is a fashion inspiration for how to look classy, modern and professional all at the same time.

At times, however, the movie becomes predictable because of a flat character like Moji, a Thai-Japanese lover played by Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul. Throughout the plot, his character remains the same with little development. Starting as an all-too-serious worker, Moji could have learned to be more relaxed and “chill”, especially when he plans on being in a serious relationship with Jane.

In the end, he returns to being the same Moji he was before, a working man in Japan assuming the role of a faithful partner. Because of this, the movie can seem predictable. Nevertheless, because of the characters’ sweet actions and the movie’s appealing plot, Brother of the Year compensates for this predictability by catching the audience off-guard (in a good way).

With Chut and Jane’s culmination of their frustrations, conflict arises that risks their careers and even family ties. Chut has his last straw in feeling like a failure next to his “perfect sister”. In his mind, he is supposed to be the “older brother”, which probably means someone better than his sister. It is only after a long period of time that he finds peace in letting go of the need to be better and learns how to become a brother again.

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As the oldest sibling of three myself, Chut is a very relatable and likeable character. I have been through similar sibling experiences, felt the same feelings and done the exact same things as he does. Yet what I took away from watching this movie was an insight into Jane’s mind and feelings. To her, it has never been about competition, it has always just been about making sure her older brother can be there for her. With this, I realized just how important the role of being the eldest is and how much I matter to my younger brother and sister. (saz/mut)

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