Monsoon Lover (2023)
★★★ — Monsoon Lover (2023)
Monsoon Lover is a micro-budget independent production shot on location in Cambodia by American filmmaker Marlin Darrah, who also wrote and produced the film under his Living Dangerously Films banner. Darrah is very much a one-man operation in the mould of low-budget auteurs who use international locations to stretch limited resources, and Cambodia's relatively open filming environment makes it a practical choice for that kind of lean, self-funded production. The film sits within a small tradition of Western-made dramas set in Southeast Asia that engage, with varying degrees of seriousness, with sex tourism and exploitation as subject matter, a tradition that includes more prominent titles like Pretty Woman's grim inverse or any number of festival-circuit films from the 2000s and 2010s examining the region's shadow economies.
A-Z World Movie Tour Cambodia Another first review. This movie was a bit of an enigma. On the one side I thought it was going to be a little bit like the Tommy Wiseau classic cringefest "The Room" because it's directed, written, produced by Marlin Darrah. However, it was actually a really decent movie in the end. Probably super low budget but far more impressive than I imagined. It's not perfect... in fact far from it... but it has it's positives. Firstly... the setting. Cambodia is a beautiful country with a rich history and a diverse culture. Secondly... the story. It starts off as a story about a guy called Thomas who is sucked into the Cambodian "nightlife" but soon settles down with a woman he comes to love and he takes her and her daughter away from that life. The bad bits... The main character's best friend is literally a human trafficker. Not only that but a trafficker of children. Not once does he confront that. At all. He even continues to be friends with him afterwards and we're supposed to feel bad when he ultimately gets his just desserts. There's also a character called Cliff who comes out to Cambodia to indulge in the "nightlife" which everyone enables. Even his wife. Not once did anyone *really* challenge him. The acting is also a little suspect from most characters. Cliff is one of the most unlikeable characters ever. The actress who played Teeda was standout for me. All in all, a good film but still has alot to fix. (Apparently this was originally released under the title Monsoon Wife but they changed it to this after backlash)
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2023 | Watched: 2025-06-02
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Amazon Video
Buy: Amazon Video
Physical: Amazon UK
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