This poignant Thai film considers the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in a mostly indirect way by presenting the romantic idyll of a city boy and a country girl. The bleak end to their relationship parallels the mass tragedy and gives the title ironic meaning, but without shattering the dreamlike mood carefully evoked by writer/director Aditya Assarat in this, his feature debut. The tension between a sense of loss and a feeling of promise, between permanent separation and new beginnings, proves haunting. Viewers needing concrete explanations for the bad things that befall us will find the mysterious aspects of Wonderful Town frustrating; and after making a strong impression at festivals and getting a premiere run at New York’s Anthology Film Archives, Wonderful Town probably won’t travel much further inside, let alone outside, the arthouse circuit.

Bangkok architect Ton (Supphasit Kansen) moves to the southern coastal region of Takua Pa for two months to oversee the construction of a beachfront tourist hotel. Rather than seek fancier accommodation close to the site, he chooses to lodge in a nearby village, Pakua Pak, in the small family hotel run by the attractive Nan (Anchalee Saisoontorn). They fall in love—tentatively at first and then more openly, which triggers gossip. Their connection is naturally sweet, modest yet passionate. Grateful to be out of the bustling city, he’s bored by his job and his presence is required mainly to placate the client. There’s evidence that his life is more complicated than he reveals to Na, but we never learn what he may be running away from or whether he just needs a respite from the urban clamor. For her part, Na, who went to school in the city, is encased in the routine of managing the hotel by herself. Her brother Wit (Dul Yaambunying) is a local hoodlum and, in addition to her duties, she raises his young son and takes care of their grandparents.

Three years after the tsunami, the devastation is evidenced by abandoned homes and businesses, referred to as ruins and thought to be populated by spirits. More obvious is the absence of people. With 8,000 lives lost in the area, Pakua Pak feels like a ghost town. The emptiness and scenic beauty—the village is wedged between tall mountains and the sea—are a big part of the appeal for Ton. Naturally, the sense of spiritual and physical desolation weighs more heavily on Na, who mentions the town’s reputation for resilience, having recovered from a malaria epidemic and floods in the past. Its reemergence from this latest setback seems less certain.

Wonderful Town begins with shots of the white foam surf lapping at the beach on an average, calm day. Exactly who and what has been washed away, and the effect that’s had on those remaining behind, is protected like a secret. More than visual clues, Assarat uses sound to signal the changes. There’s minimal dialogue, but the ambient noise and particular sounds jump out—an electric fan, a crackling walkie-talkie, the motorcycles of four teenage thugs. People and the sounds they made are missing, which makes us focus more on what we do hear. An expectation of tragedy overlays this desultory auditory landscape as well as the slowly building romance between Ton and Na. Will destruction come in the form of another weather event or via a manmade disaster such as war, underscored by the fact so many Vietnam films have been lensed in the region? The way in which the relationship is severed, and its understated depiction, leaves you feeling sad and empty, bringing you into communion with the place and its people. Most difficult of all is knowing that, no matter what happens or why, this state of being won’t be swept away anytime soon.

Distributor: Kino International
Cast: Anchalee Saisoontorn, Supphasit Kansen and Dul Yaambunying
Director/Screenwriter: Aditya Assarat
Producers: Soros Sukhum and Jetnipith Teerakulchanyut
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 92 min.
Release date: July 18 ltd.