Not so much a single movie than three separate short films, Seven Something is propelled by the hypothesis that our lives change significantly every seven years, and hence focuses on characters whose ages are multiples of that number.
The first film, 14, is a meandering affair that focuses on a teenage couple whose love lives are complicated by social media: apparently, male protagonist Puan (Jirayu La-onmanee) can`t do anything without incessantly updating his Facebook, Twitter and online forum accounts. Needless to say, this irks his girlfriend Milk (Sutatta Udomslip). Director Paween Purjitpanya tries his best to tap into the ethos of Gen Y, but this overproduced number complete with tacky sound effects gets cloying pretty fast.
Thankfully, things get better in the latter films. 28, directed by Adisorn Tresirikasem, focuses on the love lives of two celebrities whose careers and romance have lost its former lustre. It`s a simple tale of love, hate and reconciliation, but emotionally poignant and interspaced with some beautiful set pieces.
42, by Director Jira Maligool, is the strongest yarn in the bunch, despite its rather obvious central analogy of life and marathon-running. The protagonist here is 42-year-old newsreader She (Suquan Bulakul). She literally runs into her love interest, a young marathon runner (Nichkhun 2PM) who changes her life by introducing her to marathon running. The film is deftly crafted, and while emotionally predictable, is still likely to strike a chord with sentimental audiences.
It may not be perfect and a tad overlong, but if you`re willing to sit through the subpar first third of the film, Seven Something will definitely fit the bill for an adequate date movie.
Summary: Two-thirds of a decent rom-com.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Raphael Lim