Fast & Feel Love
Kao (Nat Kitcharit) is exceedingly good at sport stacking. It’s his life’s passion and what he believes to be the only thing in life he’s good at. He’s so focused on shaving off nanoseconds from his time that his long-term girlfriend Jay (Urassaya Sperbund) is left to take care of everything else in their lives. As the deadline for a vital competition approaches, Jay realises that they both have different aspirations for life and decides to end the relationship. As well as mastering his speed, Kao is left to figure out how to master frying an egg on his own as he negotiates being an adult for the first time.
Presented with a vibrant energy and gusto, writer-director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Fast & Feel Love is an endearingly oddball underdog tale loaded with personality. Seemingly mundane events are given the dramatic bravado of a Marvel movie – the score even echoes notes from Alan Silvestri’s score – and the plot speeds forward at a hyperactive pace. First impressions of this over-the-top style can be overbearing, even irritating at times. However, the film’s charm soon grows on you thanks to Kitcharit’s childlike vulnerability alongside his tender rapport with Sperbund, who likewise gives a solid performance.
Despite the characters’ differences, Kao and Jay’s strong bond is where the strengths of Thamrongrattanarit’s latest features lie. The romantic aspect functions more as an examination of their broken relationship in a similar vein as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and it does so in a manner that’s as thoughtful as it is sweet. Underneath its peculiar premise, this film is about two lovers helping each other better themselves.
The comedy (which looks to have taken its inspiration from Edgar Wright’s snappy editing) and the countdown to the competition are less well handled than the central relationship. The heavy reliance on pop culture references is very hit or miss, and by the time the climactic moment arrives the script has already progressed past it in terms of Kao’s character development. An ending that doesn’t know when to stop only dampens what could have been a fitting bittersweet finale to the pair’s story.
Fast & Feel Love is like an energetic puppy. It’s loud and can be annoying at times, but it’s hard not to fall for its charms.
Andrew Murray
Fast & Feel Love does not have a UK release date yet.
Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2022 coverage here.
For further information about the festival visit the official BFI website here.
Watch the trailer for Fast & Feel Love here:
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