Stuck in the Friend Zone? Here's a Relatable Film
Warning: spoiler alert!
The dull ache of the friend zone is one of the staple feelings of adolescence. Friend Zone plays on the aged trope of a guy falling for a girl, getting rejected, and being stuck in the friend zone forever, and does a somewhat good job in doing so.
Its strength, in my opinion, lies in its reliance on the familiar. The Thai film revolves around two main characters: Palm, who's been in love with his best friend, Gink, since high school. The friend zone he finds himself in for 10 years is intentional: he does not express his love to her, despite multiple opportunities to do so, because he's afraid of losing her forever. Thus, he settles on being her best friend, using his job as a flight attendant to fly from place to place in order to go see Gink wherever she is.
Despite the frequent jet-setting and beautiful locations, the film roots itself not in the grand gestures, but in the small, familiar ones. Palm helps Gink clear out her ex's things. He refills her beer at weddings. He flies over to where she is when she's alone and needs a friend. And when Gink, devastated by her boyfriend's infidelity, is unable to cope, Palm is right there with her to hold her together.
There are no flowery proclamations of love. There are no grandiose and hearts and flowers. While Friend Zone still has its fair share of rom-com cliches, they invite the audience into the world of the film by allowing them to sympathize with Palm. His easy friendship with Gink allows us to root for them from the very beginning and the humor of the film lightens the depressing topics of unrequited pining, jealousy, angst, and infidelity.
That is not to say, though, that Friend Zone is entirely perfect; the climax of the film, where Gink fills up a bathtub with beer and invites Palm to join her (clothed, don't worry) is a tense build-up with little payoff. There was no dramatic gut-wrenching moment, a staple of the typical Hollywood rom-com. Their chemistry develops without needing too much angst as a catalyst, but the lack of angst (as well as the repetitive cycle of Palm choosing not to confess his love to Gink despite having the right timing and the possibility of Gink reciprocating his feelings over and over again) makes the ending somewhat less satisfying. Their happiness felt less like the culmination of a 10-year struggle and more of a slow, inevitable progression of romance.
The popularity of Friend Zone comes from its relatability. Its ability to touch the audience comes from its roots in the familiar, tender gestures. Although it isn't necessarily an Oscar snatcher, as far as regional rom-com goes, it's a solid one that you should catch before theaters no longer play it.