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Recent releases:
- Jericho Ridge
- Civil War
- Mothers' Instinct
- Sweet East, The
- Ghost Busters: Frozen Empire
- Immaculate
- Roaring Twenties, The (reissue)
- Soul
- Dune: part two
- American Star
- Dune: Part 1 (reissue)
- Jerry & Marge Go Large
- Argylle
- Forever Young
- Jackdaw
- All of Us Strangers
- Holdovers, The
- Mean Girls
- Poor Things
- One Life
Chocolate
Stars: JeeJa Yanin, Hiroshi Abe, Ammara Siripong, Pongpat Wachirabunjong, Hirokazu Sano
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
We're not sure about the idea of an autistic sub-teen as the heroine of a martial arts film but, that said, this one is just non-stop action, with the aforementioned sub-teen giving us little time to think about the pros and cons, as she takes on crooked businessmen, moneylenders and criminals, all of whom owe her sick mother money. She demolishes the lot - at a cost.
JeeJa Yanin, actually in her early twenties, is convincing as the girl whose uncanny ability to mimic her heroes' deadly Thai skills makes her an unlikely but awesome fighting force.
The jumbled outtakes at the end, though, are an embarrassing mistake. The biggest mystery of the film is why it's called Chocolate.
David Quinlan
USA 2008. UK Distributor: Showbox. Colour by Siam Film Development.
89 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.
Review date: 19 Oct 2008