The Red Envelope – Movie Review

Menn works as a police informant. He puts on various disguises, gets close to the suspects, and pulls out whatever information he can. It sounds like a cool job, but Menn isn't very good at it. His clumsiness gets in the way, so he often screws up the investigation instead. His handler, Detective Goi, has to swoop in and rescue him every time. Despite his lack of success, Menn still dreams of a career in law enforcement.

Recently, Menn got lectured after another failed mission. His superiors tell him he's nowhere near ready for a career in law enforcement. Feeling frustrated, Menn storms outside and accidentally causes total chaos in an outdoor market. He messes up again! Afterward, Menn helps with the clean-up. He spots an abandoned red envelope on the ground and picks it up, hoping there might be money inside. Instead, he learns this isn't an ordinary red envelope at all. It's an important item used in an ancient ritual. An old superstitious woman soon appears to explain everything.

Amah is the one who placed the red envelope on the ground after blessing it with supernatural powers. Her grandson, Titi, recently died in a car accident. According to a medium's advice, Amah can help Titi feel less lonely in the afterlife by arranging a posthumous marriage for him. Since Titi is gay, the medium confirms he can indeed marry a guy. However, there are specific rules attached. A lock of Titi's hair goes inside the red envelope, and whoever picks it up first is destined to become his husband.

Poor Menn gets roped into an ancient ritual he wants no part of. His immediate response is no. He doesn't even know Titi and Amah, who are practically strangers to him. He isn't superstitious and has never believed in rituals. Most of all, Menn isn't even gay. He rejects the arranged marriage, but Amah warns him that he'll be cursed with bad luck. Soon, Menn starts encountering misfortune and accidents wherever he goes. Just like Amah predicted, turning down a ghost marriage has consequences.

After a long streak of bad luck, Menn finally agrees to marry Titi. He hopes the ghost marriage can break the curse for good. On their wedding night, Titi makes his first appearance, showing up while Menn is in the shower. Menn is angry and calls him a sissy ghost. Titi gets his revenge by possessing Menn's body and running outside naked. He makes Menn bust out a sexy dance for the whole neighbourhood to see. Someone records the clip, and it spreads online. The embarrassing incident humbles Menn, who finally learns to stop antagonizing Titi. Instead, he tries his best to get along with the ghost.

Since his death, Titi has been stuck in the living world. For some reason, he can't reincarnate. Menn figures Titi must have some unresolved wish. If they can sort it out, Titi may move on to the afterlife. However, neither of them knows what's keeping him here. Maybe it has to do with his family? Or maybe it's about his boyfriend, Din? It could also be that he wants to catch the driver who killed him in the hit-and-run. Until they figure it out, Titi stays stuck with Menn, following him everywhere. Menn is desperate for the ghost to reincarnate so he can finally regain his peace!

The Red Envelope, I was rooting for you… We were all rooting for you… Since I loved the original Taiwanese film, I was excited for this Thai remake. The casting seemed promising. Bilkin and PP Krit are BL legends, reuniting on screen with a wacky supernatural story. Sadly, I was disappointed. Whenever The Red Envelope stays close to the original plot, the movie works for me. Whenever it makes unnecessary changes, I like it much less. In my opinion, The Red Envelope is clearly worse than Marry My Dead Body.

One of my least favourite changes? The Red Envelope focuses too much on the police investigation. The majority of this movie is about catching a random criminal. Why are we wasting time on such an irrelevant plot!? Who gives a damn about those drug dealers!? The remake is missing the point. The main character is a ghost with unfinished business, and the story is obviously interesting because of the supernatural twist. As Titi struggles to move on to the afterlife, his emotional character arc should've been the main focus. The real mystery is figuring out Titi's last regrets in the living world. Not this crime comedy nonsense.

This movie feels too silly. Sure, the humour is okay. I chuckled here and there. The problem is that it doesn't know when to stop fooling around. It keeps cracking dumb jokes when the story should pivot to emotional moments. In the original, several scenes are meant to be serious. The characters have heartfelt chats. They mourn a tragic death. Marry My Dead Body knows how to juggle comedy and drama. But in the remake, everything turns into a dumb gag. The Red Envelope is so busy trying to make us laugh that it forgets to tell a meaningful story.

Annoyingly, The Red Envelope keeps stripping away the emotional nuances from Marry My Dead Body. Let's use one example. In the remake, the ex is simply a scammer. But in the original story, the relationship failed because Mao Mao kept pressuring his boyfriend to get married. That detail adds more depth to his backstory, making him seem lonely and desperate. When I compare the two movies, I get frustrated by how the remake has watered down the storylines. Why are the new characters so shallow? Why remove all their interesting edges?

Since the writing lacks emotional depth, I didn't appreciate the acting as much as I wanted to. At times, Billkin and PP Krit appear to be hamming it up. Big faces! Big reactions! With that said, they still deliver solid performances. In fact, the cast's enthusiasm is one of the movie's strengths. The production values are also respectable. The Red Envelope doesn't look like some cheap knockoff. I enjoy how the team put effort into recreating certain scenes from the original movie. It pays nice homage to the source material (even if this version doesn't include nudity!)

In Marry My Dead Body, the ending destroyed me. I was sobbing like a baby during the poignant chat with the father. Even though The Red Envelope ends similarly, it doesn't have the same emotional impact on me. That's when I realized I don't care about these characters. Titi is only a pale imitation of my beloved Mao Mao. Overall, The Red Envelope is missing the heart and soul of the original movie. As a huge fan of Marry My Dead Body, I found this adaptation disappointing. The Thai remake doesn't live up to the brilliance of the Taiwanese story.