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Bati is a reclusive cab driver working the overnight shift. While the modern world is quickly moving and growing around him, he sits in his tiny barren apartment content to listen to the golden oldies hour radio show. He even writes the station letters in the hopes that one day they’ll read one on the air. His life is just one long 24 hour routine until one night he happens to pick up working girl Nual. Now Nual has become his routine. He waits for her specifically every night to cart her around and tend to her needs. Unfortunately, one small set back turns into a wide chasm and it may be tough for either one of them to cross back into the familiar territory they both need so much.

The first thing that stands out about this film is its cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (“Syndromes and a Century,” “Mysterious Object at Noon”) under writer/director Kongdej Jaturanrasamee (“Sayew”). The main narrative thread features incredibly beautiful shots of Bangkok at night and finds new and interesting ways to present the subject matter and themes without being intrusive or taking any focus away from the story. Even better, though, are Bati’s fantasy sequences. On his favorite radio station, they play old soap operas. Bati inserts himself into these to create a wonderful farcical homage to the 1960s melodrama. The image has been squished from its cinemascope aspect ratio to fit into the smaller screen both for accuracy and for humor. Poor audio quality, film scratches and discoloration perfectly complete the tribute.

That’s just a hint that you don’t know what’s going to happen throughout the course of this film. There are more subtle aspects that you wouldn’t expect to find and more overt surprises. I was surprised to hear Bati actually talk. For a while he didn’t speak any words as himself – he only spoke in the soap opera tributes and in voiceover as he narrates his love letters to the radio station. But once he meets Nual, words actually come out of his mouth. That’s a very nice touch that will probably be missed by most people. As far as the obvious goes, you will never guess the events that lead up to the ending. It’s simply impossible. The movie becomes very strange, but somehow it still seems to work well enough to keep you from getting completely turned off.

Part of why the film works so well is the performance by Petchtai Wongamia (“Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior”) as Bati. Not to take anything away from Waranuch Wongsawad’s beautiful and nuanced performance as Nual, but Petchtai is a real standout. He’s instantly likable and plays the innocent perfectly by looking around a little bit more than most people and raising his eyebrows every so slightly. You almost get the impression that there really could be something between these two if she didn’t treat him like a child (despite the fact that she seems to respect him).

This is one of those rare films that could show you something new with each successive viewing. A largely intriguing piece of storytelling and filmmaking, “Midnight My Love” showcases great talents at their finest. The fantastic score by Chaibundit Peuchponsub provides even more depth to the story and emotions. The biggest problem the film has is that it gives you a few false endings (like “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”) and there’s a long cool down after the bizarre yet satisfying climax. But I’ll take a slightly lackluster ending if it means I’ll get the rest of this great package.

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