Arnold Is a Model Student

Arnold’s prospects look bright. In Sorayos Prapapan’s visually crisp and subtly comedic debut, Arnold, a gold medal Mathematics Olympiad student, returns to Thailand after an exciting year abroad, but he quickly grows disillusioned with school and falls into working for an illegal test cheating ring. Meanwhile, other students begin to protest the school’s antiquated practices of obedience and punishment. Inspired by the Bad Student movement in Thailand, the film wryly asks what a student’s rights are, and more broadly, what a citizen’s rights are, exploring corruption and authority in a country where young peoples’ world can feel absurd and their options are ultimately limited.