Unknown Lover

Picture finding out, one more time, that the person you are dating has been cheating on you. เขาชื่ออันวาร์, as the Thai title reads, starts right there, with Blue packing up his heartbreak and leaving Thailand for a summer in New York. Uff, what a way to begin a holiday.

In the city he meets Anwar (Teetut Chungmanirat), a stranger who asks if Blue is Thai, offers to speak a little Thai with him, and then quietly takes over his summer. Anwar has studied fashion and has a sharp eye for clothes, so he offers to help Blue find a style of his own. Fittings turn into photo sessions, photo sessions turn into late night snacks, and Blue (Kongpob Jirojmontri) starts to see a version of himself he never had the nerve to try.

Here is the twist that makes the setup sting. Back home, Blue still has a partner, Peem, who keeps asking for selfies and stories while they are apart. So the person holding the camera for those pictures is Anwar. The official pilot frames the whole thing in Blue's own words: Anwar taught him everything, they did everything together, and yet Anwar was never his partner.

Anwar calls the way he lives "casual dating", which is exactly the problem for someone who flew halfway around the world nursing a broken trust. Blue told himself he was running away. What he finds instead is a summer that refuses to stay small. My tip: watch who Blue is really dressing for.