Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Don’t Come Home’ (‘Ya Klap Ban’ in Thai) is a genre-bending mystery show that takes the audience to some very unexpected places. It starts with the disappearance of a five-year-old girl named Min, who comes to her grandmother’s house in the countryside with her mother, Varee. As the investigation begins into the case of Min, who seems to have vanished in thin air, Varee chances upon deep-buried secrets of the house, which lead her to life-changing realizations. Over the course of six episodes, the 2024 limited series takes many twists and turns, leaving the audience befuddled by the end, and it all stems from the mind of the director, Woottidanai Intarakaset.
The Fictional Premise of Don’t Come Home Mixes Genres to Catch the Audience Off-Guard
At first glance, ‘Don’t Come Home’ appears to be a mystery thriller with a touch of supernatural. By the end, however, it turns out to be something else entirely, and it is this surprise that makes it more engaging as the audience never quite knows what to expect from the story. This is exactly what Woottidanai Intarakaset wanted from the story. The director, who also serves as the co-writer of the series with Aummaraporn Phandinthong, revealed that his main intention while writing the story was to make something complex and suspenseful but something that also keeps the audience on their toes, giving them something entirely unexpected.
While the story goes into the realms of the supernatural and science fiction, it remains rooted in reality with very relatable protagonists. All the main characters in the show are women, each dealing with a unique situation that eventually plays a huge role in her story. Through the various arcs presented in the series, Woottidanai wanted to focus on important issues like domestic violence, the impact of grief, and the face of the trauma that people can carry their entire lives. While each female character in the show is dealing with one problem or another, Woottidanai doesn’t want any of them to come across as weak. In fact, it is in their strength that the story finds its soul.
The House is More Than a Stage for the Events of Don’t Come Home
While the characters and the turn of fate they experience drive the narrative of the show, there is another thing that plays quite an important role in the story. The Jarukanant house, which serves as the primary setting of the show, becomes a character of its own, as each nook and cranny tells a new story and helps crack the case of Min’s disappearance. Because the majority of the series takes place inside the house, the creators of the series knew that they needed to find the perfect location as it could make or break the story. Luckily, Woottidanai knew exactly what he wanted.
Built-in the style of Sino-European architecture, the Jarukanant house was built specifically for the series and is not a pre-existing house. While writing the show, Woottidanai came up with the design of the place. He revealed that it was while writing that he visualized the house, seeing the entire floor plans in his head and sketching them out to get a better sense of the story. He then took the sketches to the production designers and collaborated with them to create the house. Because the space of the house, from its secret basement to the view from one floor to another, plays an integral part in the unraveling of the mystery, it was important for the show to build it according to what the story required.
Woottidanai revealed that each thing in the house was placed according to what he wanted to be seen in a particular scene. Moreover, it would also dictate the movement of the characters, and this would eventually lead to eerie encounters that remain unexplained until the finale of the show. Apart from working as a chess board where every piece and its placement forms part of a bigger puzzle, the house was also meant to echo the themes of the story, especially about the burden of the past and how some places and people are forever haunted by the trauma they have experienced.
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