The Debt Collector

Story: Num (Nadech Kugimiya) is a debt collector assigned to the toughest cases. He goes about his work with extreme ruthlessness until one day he shoots a creditor. He serves ten years in prison for this, where, thanks to a Buddhist monk, he renounces his old ways. When he is released from prison, the monk helps him find a job. He meets an elderly woman who runs a food stand and her granddaughter, and soon witnesses the grandmother being terrorized by some debt collectors. Num intervenes by paying off part of the debt, but the next time, he doesn’t react so kindly. Po (Daou Pittaya Saechua), who can’t stand seeing his henchmen being led around by the nose like that, pays the grandmother and her granddaughter a visit - and sets their apartment on fire. When Num finds out, he realizes he has to take Po out. He used to work for Po’s mother himself, but children were always off-limits to him. Since he doesn’t have long to live anyway due to a tumor, he decides to embark on a quest for revenge. However, there’s also the police officer Kong (Chaiwat Thongsaeng), who is deeply in debt and therefore keeps coming to Po’s aid. He wants to catch Num for Po but soon realizes that Num is an old friend of his, someone he grew up with in the same orphanage...

Review: "The Debt Collector" is one of those interesting action movies that I would love to recommend to everyone, but can’t in good conscience because of its undeniable weaknesses. The fact remains, though, that this Thai action film enhances a story that’s been told countless times with plot twists, new characters, and a bit more depth, making it almost original. Yet it is precisely this what sometimes gets in the way of the film being called a true success in the end. The fact that director Surapong Ploensang wants to give his film more depth and — unfortunately, simply too late — introduces an important new character for that purpose is commendable, but it inflates the runtime to 133 minutes and gets in the way of a good pace. At the same time, this means the action gets a bit shortchanged. I have a few words of praise as well as criticism to offer regarding the action in particular, but more on that later. First, I’d like to discuss how "The Debt Collector" portrays the protagonist’s life.

The film opens with a typical day in Num’s life. The debt collector fights his way through a debtor’s henchmen with extreme brutality, showing not only no mercy but even going way overboard. You immediately wonder whether this is really the person we’re supposed to root for over the course of two hours, or whether he’s actually the villain. Fast-forward ten years, and Num has found his way to Buddha and is seeking redemption. After his release from prison, he seeks out the master who led him out of the valley of damnation and is even helped by him to find a job. He then befriends a grandmother and her granddaughter. This may not seem like anything extraordinary, but interestingly, it’s enough to underscore a credible transformation. What I liked much better, however, was that the film doesn’t waste unnecessary time building up Num’s inner conflict between never shedding blood again and wanting to protect the snack bar owner from the cruel debt collectors. Often enough in films of this kind, this is dragged out to make the catharsis, when our hero finally fights back, feel even more liberating. "The Debt Collector" shows that this isn’t necessary at all.

Nevertheless, we feel an emotional connection to Num. One could almost get the impression that the director’s goal here was to create a character-driven drama, similar to the South Korean film "A Man of Reason", only far more successful in achieving its aims. This is also because we are repeatedly presented with flashbacks that answer questions that had previously been weighing on our minds. What’s fascinating is that at first you have to roll your eyes at the flashbacks, because you’re so used to them being used to artificially add substance to a film, but here they truly serve a purpose. For example, they answer the question of why Num keeps having seizures and, at the same time, raise the question of whether Num’s sudden transformation and reevaluation of his life are connected to his terminal illness; or they provide an explanation for how he was apprehended by the police in the first place. Even some of the quirks of the supporting characters are explained, and as a result, even a typical henchman, who usually just serves as muscle, is given a somewhat nuanced portrayal.

As already mentioned, however, this is precisely what proves to be the film’s downfall. In the second half, the police officer Kong is introduced. He, too, has his own personal story: a child who needs surgery, debts, and even a connection to Num. His storyline also introduces the element of corruption into the narrative, which is, in fact, the very reason why Madam Pim’s organization is able to operate so freely. Then a new sergeant joins the fray, making life difficult for Kong but potentially offering him an opportunity. All of this keeps the story fresh and creates opportunities for exciting twists, but it also drags the events out and leaves us wondering whether the director was sure of the identity he wanted to give his film. Every now and then, there are the expected action scenes, which are violent but lack any remarkable choreography. Instead, the focus is on the struggle for survival; even the sounds of blows are surprisingly subdued, the music is sparse or nonexistent, and the film concentrates on the essentials. This proves to be more appealing than expected.

Still, I can’t help but criticize the action sequences for not featuring more intense and well-thought-out fights. The director missed an opportunity here. This is especially frustrating because the action clearly has a soul. Choreography like in "Hydra" would have been a perfect fit here. On top of that, there are, of course, a few clichés here and there — like when the villains fail to reliably take out the hero and then act surprised that he’s still alive — as well as a peculiar motorcycle scene at a fair that seems to randomly have found its way into the film. Ultimately, though, what I liked about "The Debt Collector" was its dark atmosphere, its well-crafted world, and an antihero you can’t help but care about. The somewhat more layered story is a double-edged sword, though, and the ending doesn’t quite pull it all together. Unlike the Thai film "My Dearest Assassin", however, "The Debt Collector" has its own identity, and for that alone, it doesn’t deserve some of the more lukewarm reviews out there. Even though I can’t give it a great rating myself, I’d like to recommend this film to genre fans.

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