lyntonadam Review of Girl From Nowhere

Girl From Nowhere (2018–2021)

DARKLY ENTERTAINING ( with a hefty dose of misanthropy )

[8/10 · 22 April 2020]

My only previous exposure to Thai TV was a mediocre show full of affluent, attractive young people falling in/out of love & I gave up pretty quickly. This show, however, is a vastly different & refreshing proposition ! Nanno ( Chicha Amatayakul ) is the semi-supernatural girl of the title & she's a student who arrives at a new high school every episode ( apart from 2 doubles ) & proceeds to expose the lies, misdeeds & base emotions which simmer below the surface. And she does this with a great deal of glee, even when she cops it instead of dishing it out. The general tone here is quite dark & misanthropic; it's said that our veneer of civilisation is rather thin & TGFN nods in agreement. Perhaps it's the churning hormones, but teenagers can be especially vicious & there's a lot of violence & profanity going on. Far less sexual material, though an adult teacher who preys on girls attracts our heroine's attention. The show has two major assets : a star with real presence & a charming smile behind which lurks relentless retribution; & the writers, who tackle modern issues with aplomb & regular cleverness. Mind you, it's not perfect. The acting tends to be variable & a couple of eps are less than riveting, though the visuals are often stylish. All things considered, I thoroughly recommend it. Good title too.