The Whole Truth
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Graphic violence, bullying in supernatural horror tale.
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The Whole Truth
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What's the Story?
In THE WHOLE TRUTH, Mai (Nicole Theriault) is a single mom raising two teens, the cheerleader Pim (Sutatta Udomslip), and Putt, an aspiring artist who's bullied for having a leg brace. One night while driving home late from work, Mai gets into a head-on collision with a drunk driver, and suffers a concussion and coma. Pim and Putt learn the news from their grandfather, one Mr. Samphong, who they've never met until that moment. While Mai remains in a coma in the hospital, Pim and Putt are sent to live with their grandparents, including their grandmother Wan, who is in the early stages of dementia. Soon, strange things begin to happen. Wan keeps forcing Putt to drink large glasses of milk, resulting in a recurring bloody nose and feelings of nausea. One day, they discover a hole in the wall of their grandparents' apartment. Putt looks inside, and sees a demonic baby vomiting torrents of blood. Their grandparents claim not to see the hole. The more Putt looks into the hole, the more he sees what seems to be an alternate reality, and their grandparents continue to deny what Putt and Pim are seeing. When Mai comes out of her coma, it's up to her to find a way to escape the hospital, confront her parents, and reveal to her kids the tragic and horrifying reality about what really happened in her past, and how it's being revealed through the hole in the wall.
Is It Any Good?
This supernatural horror tale is better than one might expect, but not as good as it might have been. The Whole Truth is a Thai horror movie that comes across as heavily influenced by movies like The Ring and The Grudge, but manages to find its own footing through a fast-paced story that builds suspense towards the big reveal at the end without spending any more time than necessary on getting to know the characters. The acting is above average, if melodramatic at times, and the creepy vibe in the set design and the horror imagery keeps the audience engaged. There's enough to it (even if just barely) to keep the audience curious enough to want to know where all of this is going.
Unfortunately, it doesn't really lead to anything satisfying, and the two-hour-and-five-minute running time ends up feeling like it's at least 30 minutes longer than it needs to be. Side stories fall short, to say nothing of plot twists that come across as forced and manipulative rather than entertaining and rewarding. The background music is excessive and obnoxious -- it's like any time someone blinks or turns their head, shrill and discordant industrial horror noise screeches and scrapes to the point that you start to believe that the filmmakers either have no faith in themselves in providing the scares, no faith in the audience to be scared without audio cues, or all of the above. These decisions by the filmmakers result in a movie that isn't as good or as scary as it might have been with more editing and less reliance on horror cliches.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about horror movies like The Whole Truth. How is this similar to and different from other horror movies, in terms of suspense, violence, blood, gore?
How does the movie address the treatment of kids with disabilities?
The movie is set in Thailand. How is bullying and cyberbullying conveyed in the movie? How is it similar to and different from how it's conveyed in other countries?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: December 2, 2021
- Cast: Nicole Theriault , Sutatta Udomslip , Nattapat Nimjirawat
- Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters , High School , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 125 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
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