Bad Genius: What is the Price of True Knowledge?
Various kinds of people filled up the cinema with squeals of excitement and anticipation. But majority of the population present were students. Students in uniform, students in civilian outfit – because who knows? They might have snuck out just to watch. As the lights dimmed, the theater which was once cold, was warmed up by everybody’s mixed up carbon dioxide and oxygen. Everybody paused, there was no sound to be heard, just pure concentration. The movie began.
The Thai movie Bad Genius, directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, was released in the Philippines last October 18, 2017 with a bomb. It was primarily out in Thailand last May when it earned the top spot in Thai’s box office for two weeks, becoming the highest-grossing Thai film this year. As soon it was released, SM Cinemas was the first to announce its student promo for only 150 pesos as its original price that ranges from 200-250 pesos (prices in areas may vary).
The trailer itself was captivating and the way it was presented was engaging, thus, the people who will watch it expect it to be that way. The character of Lynn, portrayed by Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, was the ideal student every parent dreamed of. A straight As student who undoubtedly can ace any test – even when the paper is oriented upside down – witnessed and testified by her best friend, Grace. Oh! How Grace loves ‘the’ drama! Portrayed by Eisaya Hosuwan, Grace was that typical high school diva that loves the spotlight. She loves the theater, but only if her grades are qualified enough. Indeed, the theater is bound for her, for her looks is deceiving. She dubbed Lynn as her mentor who later on became “The Mentor” of whoever can pay her ‘piano lessons’.
Did somebody say business? This guy may not tick those boxes from your bucket list of your ideal man, but he can top the supportiveness aspect. Pat, portrayed by Teeradon Supapunpinyo, is Grace’s boyfriend slash potential husband. His marketing skills is known to be at the most, after he noticed that one attempt in an exam when Lynn let Grace copy her through writing the answers on her eraser. Pat told Lynn about selling her knowledge through test answers as he figured out that Lynn and her family is quite short financially. Lynn developed four ways of conveying the A, B, C, and D choices through 4 different songs finger-combination in the piano, thus, Pat opened the business “The Piano Lessons by Mentor Lynn”. Completely focused on studying and helping his mother in their laundry business, here comes a guy who never thought of anything but to be successful, not to disappoint his mother and ace scholarships. Bank, portrayed by Chanon Santinatornkul, shared the same scholarship, opportunities, and family circumstances with Lynn. The only difference with them is that Lynn is genius but it came out like it was innate to her and she is street smart. Bank, on the other hand, is one of those students who is very studious and believes that good grades come out from those who worked hard for them.
To keep it short, in this business: Lynn and Bank are both brains, Pat is the marketing and Grace works for the connections. That’s how they roll.
At first, it was only Lynn and the love birds who are on the business. Lynn’s piano lessons was a success, until she was caught cheating by exchanging papers. Bank witnessed this and as well as how this incident caused the loss of Lynn’s opportunity to get a scholarship to study abroad. However, the twist in the story came upon when Bank finds himself tight and armed with vengeance for money. He responded to Lynn’s call and teamed up with the answers-selling business of the three. Lynn and Bank soared new heights as they flew to Sydney to take up the STIC - an international standardized test for university admissions – and send the answers to Thailand where their consumers awaited for it. It was a risk indeed for the two. Bank was caught and was banned from taking exams abroad, and to double that, he was expelled from school. He propagated their laundry business with his share in the crime they have done. Lynn, on the other hand, was not caught but she confessed it to her father and the latter to the test administrators. Want to know what was the root of this? Grace and Pat were being sent to Boston University to take their exams there, but they needed to pass STIC. Yup, they passed, but they didn’t know that university exams aren’t multiple choice. Well, the jokes on them.
“Ang galing! I didn’t see that coming!” was all that can be heard in every strategy-busted scene in the movie. Ironically, the movie taught the audience how to strategically cheat on a scantron-like lotto card exam. But it also presented the consequences of one’s action and its selfish domino effect to the victim. The theater was full of uneasiness every time a tactic is being established, and it mixed up with pity and self-reflection every after the risk consequence. In the end, it was quite more shocking when destiny played with Lynn and Bank. It was as if the world turned upside down. It was a matter of choice between camaraderie, trust, and change.
The black boxed-cinema opened its dimmed lights signalling the end of the movie. You could imagine people standing up slowly and stretching from the two-hour run of the movie, probably talking about the best scene, some may have sprinted to the washroom and was out already, but mostly were still left seated in an awe. The movie was a total cliff-hanger with a lot of questions in mind, and everybody is hoping for a sequel.
