The global market for theatrical releases continues to wax and wane due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a frustrating time for moviegoers everywhere, albeit a lucrative one for streaming platforms, notably Netflix. The streaming service’s summer schedule includes several overseas films now shelved from release due to the rapid influx of new COVID-19 cases and otherwise that Netflix has now snatched up for release.
One of the more enticing titles coming to Netflix this summer is “Ghost Lab.” The Thai supernatural thriller follows two doctors who become obsessed with scientifically proving the existence of ghosts after they witness a haunting at their hospital. Soon, the pair breaches medical ethics, risk their sanity and even their lives to prove that paranormal phenomena are all too real.
The film stars “Tor” Thanapob Leeratanakachorn, “Ice” Paris Intarakomalyasut and “Nychaa” Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich. All three actors have lengthy histories in Thai television, and “Ghost Lab” is the feature film debut for each of them.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021
“Goff” Paween Purijitpanya directs the film, a solid choice given the other horror movies in his filmography, like his 2007 debut, “Body.”
Netflix acquired the global rights to “Ghost Lab” from GDH 559, a subsidiary studio of the Thai entertainment giant GMM Grammy, after a recent surge of positive COVID-19 cases in Thailand canceled the film’s intended May 9 release due to shuttered theaters.
Netflix has licensed media from the Thai filmmaking industry before. GMM Grammy is the successor to GMM Tai Hub, one of the most financially successful studios in Thailand’s filmmaking history. In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to the TV spinoff of one of Tai Hub’s most lucrative properties, the 2017 heist film “Bad Genius.”
How will American audiences take to this Thai take on supernatural horror? Find out on May 26, when “Ghost Lab” premieres on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.