A Useful Ghost(HKAFF2025)

A woman’s spirit possesses a vacuum cleaner to stay with her loving husband. To prove her ghostly worth to her snooty in-laws, she helps weed out other unwanted ghosts. Upending expectations with a surreal mix of transcendent romance, deadpan dark humour and satirical suspense with environmental, political and queer themes, Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s eccentric debut feature became the first Thai film to win the Grand Prix at Cannes Critics’ Week. What starts like a fantastical horror-comedy reveals itself to be a haunting exploration of loss, remembrance and defiance in a world where the powerless are treated like dust – but it’s not so easy to get rid of dust.

Grand Prix, Critics’ Week, Cannes Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival