How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

by Mike McGranaghan

“M” (Putthipong Assaratanakul) is labeled a “good for nothing” by his grandmother Amah (Usha Seamkhum). A major reason for the label is that he dropped out of school to become a professional video game streamer. That career path hasn’t exactly worked out for him, leaving him broke and living with his mom. The lead character in the Thai drama How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, M is in desperate need of cash to continue his slacker lifestyle.

Two things serendipitously occur around the same time. One is that Amah gets cancer and only has a limited amount of time left to live. The other is that M’s friend Mui (Tontawan Tantivejakul) tells him how she earned a not-insignificant inheritance after caring for an aging loved one. M decides to become Amah’s caretaker – nudging out the rest of the family – in hopes of being declared her “favorite” and consequently getting named beneficiary of her estate when she passes.

The premise of How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies might sound like a bad comedy in which a young doofus relentlessly sucks up to a disapproving grandmother. Thankfully, director Pat Boonnitipat goes a whole different direction. Several scenes are humorous, specially the bit involving a sponge bath, but the emphasis is more on how the relationship between M and Amah changes in the midst of this dishonest scheme. Both are forced to reevaluate their perceptions of each other. You might reasonably guess how the characters change, yet that does nothing to take away the pleasure of watching it happen. The screenplay focuses on significant little moments that cumulatively have a big impact.

Subtle performances give the film a realistic feel. It never seems as though the story is a gimmick. Assaratanakul nicely captures the inherent laziness of M, along with the irony of how this guy doesn’t realize he’s working harder than he would if he had an actual job. Seamkhum works up appealing chemistry with her younger co-star. The actress shrewdly doesn’t play Amah as an old crank. Instead, she makes her worldly enough to foresee what will happen if her grandson doesn’t get his act together.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies builds to a finale that speaks meaningfully to familial bonds and how they can weave through our lives in ways we don’t initially recognize. The movie is just over two hours long, so the pace occasionally drags. Still, it’s worth being patient during a couple slow spots to get to the beautiful, heartwarming ending.

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