While carrying out a mission in the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, a hitman named Gus (played by Matas Danielevicius) gets too into the role when he recklessly kills an asset named Sophie (played by Tuanoa Natsuko) for continually mocking him. Conveniently deciding to not mention this to his partner, Ben (played by Willy Zogo), the two often come to blows as the isolation of staying in a single room while waiting for a new task by their higher ups gets to them, but the consequences of Gus killing Sophie are much worse than even he thinks. Not only has their employer (known only as The Organization) seemingly turned on them after finding out that their mysterious never-before-seen boss call San Liang, actually fell in love with Sophie and is grieving her loss, but Sophie’s sisters; Qua and Doll (played by Nongnapa Manikan and Thanyalialuck Nokyung) have also learned of her murder and vow revenge on Gus with intent to finish him off. With one side trying to survive their own enforcers and the other trying to enact vengeance, this series of events will climax in a gruesome fashion where no one comes out unscathed
Released in 2024 with the help of Buffalo 8 Studios, USEFUL IDIOTS has some solid ideas that could’ve materialized into a pretty great thriller but sadly isn’t able to efficiently form a strong whole. It’s still an adequate sit with a few memorable moments and even some decent imagery and visuals, but the unexplored characters, scrambled narrative and pretty unfulfilling script, hold it back quite a bit.
Directed by Italian director, Maurizio Mistretta, USEFUL IDIOTS has the workings for something great even if it’s not really bringing a lot new to the table. While the set-up for both of the film’s leading pairs has been done before in several thrillers, their pairing in this specific situation is pretty nice and could be quite strong if well written, as the way they tie together and effectively act as both contrasts and counteractions has the potential to be quite lyrical and interesting, and with noticeable production value, good visual fidelity and framing, decent actor choices and even a sense of style behind its direction, there’s a good recipe here to build from, but sadly, it isn’t really able to make the most of what it has.
It has some good scene work, a few of the actors work off each other okay, and the actual directing from Mistretta is pretty decent at bringing a sense of visual flair and character to what could’ve been a broody experience, but the script written by Mistretta, Gerard Maurez and Sandro Calvani is sadly not very fleshed out and hinders the plot from really taking off. While the pieces individually are fine and even look pretty good from a basic script overview, it never gets intricate enough with the specifics of the plot or its characters, making everything feel half-baked and illusive in a bad way. The grasp on the world and the characters isn’t well established, the dialogue can be a little one-note and silly, the flip-flopping tone isn’t terribly handled but the speedy interactions and sometimes unserious writing can cause some whiplash, and while the ending does stop on a good note, it lacks the sense of impact such a closer should have because the plot and characters weren’t utilized well.
While the two hitmen appear to be the focal leads, the two sisters actually work much better in that position, mainly because their motivations are more fleshed out next to Gus and Ben, who not only lack much purpose besides being victims of one critical mistake, but also because their roles are very blandly constructed. While Willy Zogo mostly survives thanks to a relatively decent performance despite little to no plot relevancy, Gus doesn’t have the same grace, with shaky acting, no insight into his actions which just makes him look like a thin-skinned idiot, and dialogue that’s extremely juvenile and whiny without having the backing to make them excusable.
With that said, Qua and Doll aren’t that much better from a writing or acting standpoint, with Doll especially feeling very perfunctory and not always having the best line delivery. Qua has the most to work with, being a character who enters into a criminal underbelly she’s not equipped to face, is semi-haunted by the ghost of her dead sister, and was even institutionalized at a mental hospital which she escapes from in the beginning of the film, but none of this really informs much of who she is or why she’s doing what she’s doing and therefore, these aspects aren’t much more than cool tid-bits. While most of the performances are a little wonky, some people like Tuanoa Natsuko, Cici Tanchanco and even Mistretta as a stage performer who’s involved in this chaotic circumstance actually deliver some halfway decent scenes.
The movie actually looks pretty nice even with its independent status, and that comes through not only the cinematography by Andrii Palekha, which gets some pretty fun angles and solid establishing shots of the city, but there’s also a twinge of neo realism present that helps liven up the atmosphere and gives this dirty and gritty scenario a bit more pizazz. The fact that it’s shot in Thailand also helps give the film more of an identity, with the unique iconography of the various temples and buildings really standing out when they’re presented, and with some really nice color work and strong lighting and framing during dramatic sequences, it’s a pretty visually dynamic and pleasing feature even if it technically isn’t showing anything that compelling. Sometimes the audio mixing can be a bit weird, mainly when an audio track or the slightly goofy and stock-sounding musical score, overlaps the dialogue, but this thankfully isn’t a consistent or at least majorly intrusive issue.
USEFUL IDIOTS could’ve been a great film, and it’s a credit to the people involved that it manages to muster up pretty decent components in spite of the stuff working against it, but it’s nice that the positive aspects (even ones that aren’t fully formed) mainly outweigh the negative. The film isn’t really that good, as the story isn’t that engaging despite having the potential to be, most of the characters aren’t fleshed out very well and the performances can be a bit flat, and the script really doesn’t take advantage of what could’ve been good compelling plotlines and arcs, but the film is visually engaging, well directed and has just enough intrigue behind its solid idea to keep it afloat. Not something that’s rich in detail or even quality, but by no means a film that feels idiotically put together.
