Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Widower seeks pleasure and finds family; sex, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Thai Massage
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In THAI MASSAGE, Atma (Gajraj Rao) is nearing 70. His beloved wife was paralyzed for more than 20 years before her recent death, leaving him without sex for two decades. A truly decent person, he cared for her and never cheated, but now he yearns for some emotional and sexual connection with a woman at least once before he dies. He knows his conservative children and the small community they live in will never condone such a quest, so he finds himself trying to jump off a bridge. Young Santu (Divyendu Sharma), a passerby hanging with his friends, stops Atma and, as a joke, befriends him. Soon Santu is taking him to a virile old guru to help alleviate the erectile dysfunction. The cure? Raw onions and exercise. When Atma regains his function, Santu tries and fails to find Atma a suitable local sex worker but the scrutiny of neighbors shames Atma. He tries to watch some mild porn (a clothed man touches the clothed breast of a woman in his lap) but a neighbor interrupts and hears the moaning and the phrase, "Come baby, come." Santu laughs behind Atma's back, but arranges for the older man to travel secretly to Bangkok to find what they refer to as "boom-boom." Scammers and crooks try to take advantage of the innocent Atma and, mostly because he's too nice, his date with a sex worker comes to naught. Roaming the beach, he meets Rita (Aline Zasobina), a young Russian travel blogger who opens his eyes and heart to adventure. Will Atma finally get the connection he longs for?
Is It Any Good?
This movie could have been so much better. So many substantive, heartfelt, and wise life lessons are suggested by the end of Thai Massage that it's a pity so much froth and unnecessary sludge on the front end delay the worthwhile payoff for so long. Much of the first 90 minutes is devoted to predictable and unfunny comic set-ups and they paint Atma as a fool, easily taken in, rather than the honest, decent, loyal man, father, and husband he later proves himself to be. And late in the film, flashbacks are employed, as is a new voice-over narrator from out of nowhere. Somewhere in here is a truly powerful film about family, love, connection, loyalty, honesty, and friendship. It's just buried.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why society makes it difficult to talk frankly about the basic human need for sex.
At 70, the main character seems an unlikely candidate for the lead in a movie about finding a sexual partner. How does the movie use that to make fun of social taboos about sex?
What does it tell us about the main character that he can't have sex unless emotions are involved?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 13, 2022
- Cast : Gajraj Rao , Divyendu Sharma , Alina Zasobina
- Director : Mangesh Hadawale
- Inclusion Information : Indian/South Asian Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 122 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : January 17, 2023
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