‘Not Friends’ Netflix Movie Review - Three Lives and a Special Bond

Not Friends starts with a young school-going teenager named Joe who dies in a car accident. While crossing the road he had his earphones on and due to this, he couldn't hear a high-speed vehicle approaching him. The boy died and we see his schoolmates holding a prayer for him. With his big photo frame in the center, the students assemble in the hall and display remorse. Joe didn't make any special bonds with anyone and thus was forgotten within a week. No one was now talking about him and he became a thing of the past. His friend Pae decides to write a short story about him and this is how eventually the truth about Joe's life is revealed.

Pae didn't have a good history as he was expelled from his last school due to a case of assault. Losing his calm, the boy cut a girl's face with a cutter. This incident led to his immediate expulsion and was transferred to a new school. In the new school, he met Joe. They both used to sit on the same bench. Joe made several attempts at trying to be friends with Pae but he wouldn't open up and gave him a cold shoulder. This went up for quite some time and after Joe's demise, Pae made this uneventful thing a ladder to gaining selection in a university. There was a short film contest announced and the winners didn't need to qualify for any entrance exam to get admission into university. Pae considered this an easy way out as he wasn't interested in studying for tests. Bohek, Joe's old best friend comes into the scene and she catches Pae’s lies of how he was telling everyone that he was Joe's best friend. They reach a pact and start making a short film on the last story written by Joe which couldn't win the short story contest.

A team consisting of a cinematographer, editor, director, and props department gets made. The guys put in their best efforts for two main reasons and they're to make Joe immortal and another it was for Pae’s competition. Things were going smoothly until they realized that they assumed everything wrong and Joe wasn't a good person. This disheartens Pae and he decides to do the right thing but Bohek is against it. Fights break loose and the truth comes forward. Ohm, another lad from the class was the one who originally wrote that short story, and Joe stole it because Ohm didn't have much time to live. The ending of the film clarifies the mess that was made here.

Not Friends, a Thai film was doing everything great till it hit a point where things got messy and out of control. When two twists came in this story, the plot fumbled. They did eventually correct it however those parts could've been portrayed better. I liked the ending and at the same time, I think that Pae could've done a better job with the second short film. The cast did a great job and the writers here needed some shining. There are so many things that you'll observe in this two-hour-long film and the title is here to stay with you. It's how people die and no one joins them after a point of time which hits me. Only those who were close will remember you and try to do something for you. These are the people who matter and the story also shows how there are always two aspects to a story and you never should ignore the other one.

Final Score – [7/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
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Publisher at Midgard Times