Film

Happy Old Year

Name: Happy Old Year
Genre: Drama
Released: 2019
Cast: Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Sunny Suwanmethanon, Apasiri Nitibhon, Sarika Sathsilpsupa, Thirawat Ngosawang

Drama

A Thai woman excavating her apartment to make room for a renovation discovers boxes of her ex-boyfriend's things, triggering a reckoning with love, loss, and the weight of holding on. Tender, specific, and unhurried—a film about how we store our lives in objects and what it costs to let them go.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like quiet character studies where a tidy domestic task slowly unlocks memory, and you are happy to sit with small gestures, objects and silences rather than plot.

Skip it if you want a story that moves briskly or resolves its emotional questions cleanly, since this one lingers, circles and leaves much of its feeling unspoken.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a relaxed runtime of just under two hours, with unhurried scenes, muted colour and long pauses that reward patience more than attention to dialogue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Moonlight2016

Three chapters of a man's life, each achingly intimate, each showing how the past shapes us. Like Happy Old Year, it trusts silence and small moments to carry enormous emotional truths.

But Deliberately paced and visually abstract; if you need a strong plot engine, this will feel frustratingly still.

Shoplifters2018

A Japanese family bound by circumstance rather than blood navigates poverty and affection with dark humour and surprising warmth. Shares the same eye for how people actually live and love.

But Bleak subject matter wrapped in an deceptively gentle tone; the tonal shift will alienate some viewers.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019

Two women fall in love while one paints the other, in a film about time, transience, and the ache of attachment. As attentive to feeling as Happy Old Year, with a similar reluctance to look away.

But Slow-burn romance; very little happens in the conventional sense, and it's entirely in French.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Happy Old Year

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Yi Yi2000

Both films believe that the real story of a life is told through objects, spaces, and what people don't say. Both make time itself visible.

Edward Yang's three-hour Taiwanese family epic unfolds across graduations, deaths, and small rebellions—every frame overflowing with texture and specificity. A masterclass in how to film a life without melodrama.

But Three hours of everyday domestic life with minimal plot; it moves at its own tempo and has no interest in rushing.

Paterson2016

A bus driver and poet moves through ordinary days in an ordinary city, finding meaning in routine and small grace notes. Same belief that life's real texture lives in the everyday.

But Essentially plotless; Jim Jarmusch's deliberate, meditative style feels like watching someone's diary rather than a story.

A Ghost Story2017

A man returns as a ghost to watch his widow move through their home. Oddly funny and devastating—a film about time, attachment, and the objects we leave behind.

But Existentially heavy and sometimes silly in tone; the formal strangeness isn't for everyone.

Climax2018

A dance troupe's evening spirals when their sangria is spiked. Gaspar Noé's most emotionally engaged film—visually stunning, viscerally felt, not just clever.

But Brutal, drug-fuelled descent into chaos; visually extreme and deeply uncomfortable by design.

The Farewell2019

A Chinese-American woman returns home for a family gathering that is secretly a goodbye. Specific cultural texture, generous humour, a portrait of family that doesn't pretend it's simple.

But Tonal shifts between comedy and heartbreak might feel uneven if you're looking for consistency.

Graduation2016

A Romanian father tries to secure his daughter's future abroad; it becomes a portrait of compromise, corruption, and what we'll accept to protect the people we love.

But Slow, morally ambiguous, and set in a culture you might not know well; rewards patience but doesn't make it easy.

The Wailing2016

A South Korean mystery about faith, doubt, and whether we can ever really know another person. Structurally ingenious and emotionally devastating, with a similar obsession with what we carry from the past.

But Nearly three hours, baroque plot, and deliberately obscure; the ending will frustrate anyone looking for clarity.

Anatomy of a Fall2023

Both excavate a failed relationship through accumulated detail—objects, words, silences. Both ask: how well can we ever know someone we lived with?

A woman stands trial for her husband's death; the film is a laser-focused courtroom drama about marriage, truth, and the impossibility of really knowing another person. Audrey Dana's direction is surgical and humane.

But Very long (three hours), courtroom procedural can feel dry, and the ending offers no catharsis or easy answers.

Another Year2010

Both films believe that real life is made of ordinary objects, small conversations, and the weight of time passing. Both see renovation or change as an occasion for reckoning.

Mike Leigh's film follows a contented couple through the seasons as their friends accumulate unhappiness around them—a comedy that's actually about time, mortality, and how we narrate our own lives. Darkly funny and unexpectedly crushing.

But Bleak beneath the surface; the humour is subtle and the portrait of human struggle is neither sentimental nor kind.