A USEFUL GHOST | Academy Awards® Official Selection - Thailand - TIFF Screening Schedule

98TH ACADEMY AWARDS®

OFFICIAL SELECTION - THAILAND

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE | CENTERPIECE

DIRECTED BY Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

STARRING Davika Hoorne, Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjud,

and Wisarut Homhuan

Toronto International Film Festival | Screening Schedule

Thursday, September 4 @ 12:05 pm | Scotiabank 4 (Press & Industry)

Wednesday, September 10 @ 2:45 pm | Scotiabank 3

Thursday, September 11 @ 6:30 pm | Scotiabank 11

Saturday, September 13 @ 4:15 pm | Scotiabank 6

March is mourning his wife Nat who has recently passed away due to dust pollution. He discovers her spirit has returned by possessing a vacuum cleaner. Disturbed by a ghost that appeared after a worker’s death shut down their factory, his family reject their unconventional human-ghost relationship. Trying to convince them of their love, Nat offers to cleanse the factory. To become a useful ghost, she must first get rid of the useless ones.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke is a Bangkok-based filmmaker who gained international recognition with his short Red Aninsri; Or, Tiptoeing on the Still Trembling Berlin Wall which won the Junior Jury award at Locarno 2020. The acclaimed work screened at prestigious festivals including Torino, FNC, and Glasgow. His debut feature A Useful Ghost premiered at 2025 Cannes' Semaine de la Critique and won the Cannes Critics' Week Grand Prize.

“If Yorgos Lanthimos relocated to Thailand his next film might look something like critic, teacher, writer and director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s A Useful Ghost.” - Screen International

“A phenomenal new filmmaker has arrived from Thailand, and international festivalgoers should expect to enjoy his works for years to come.” - IndieWire

“Contemporary Southeast Asian cinema is made even richer and stranger by the addition of Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s directorial debut." - Variety

“A humorous and haunting gem that’s impossible to shake." - The Wrap

"No notes.” - Rolling Stone

130 minutes / Thailand, France, Singapore / Thai