Nat Kitcharit
Puek
In Youth We Trust
“Leave it behind… in youth.”
2024
2h 12m
Director: Puttipong Nakthong
Overview
Puek, a boy from the slums, had no choice but to endure his circumstances, feeling that he could never have the same worth as others. He remained silent, accepting the bullying of others just to survive in society.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Prison We Carry
I’ve seen this story before—the boy from the slums, the brutal initiation, the prison as a pressure cooker of masculinity. It’s a well-worn path, one that In Youth We Trust walks with a heavy tread. And yet, there’s something about the way Puttipong Nakthong films it that makes the familiar feel newly oppressive.
Maybe it’s the way the camera lingers on Nat Kitcharit’s face, the way his silence speaks louder than any monologue about survival. Or maybe it’s the way the film refuses to look away, even when what it shows is ugly.
The opening sequence is a masterclass in dread. A shiv is being carved from a toothbrush, the plastic bending under the pressure of a makeshift blade. The sound design is all scraping, all tension, and it’s intercut with black-and-white flashes of Puek’s childhood—his mother’s face, a moment of tenderness quickly swallowed by violence.
It’s not subtle, but it doesn’t need to be. The film is less interested in surprising you than in making sure you understand the weight of what’s coming. By the time Puek steps into the juvenile detention center, you already know the rules: trust no one, fight to survive, and whatever you do, don’t show weakness.
Nakthong’s direction is unflinching, but it’s not without its missteps. The film’s visual style—all dark corridors and sickly green lighting—creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia, but the screenplay sometimes struggles to match that intensity. The plot meanders in places, relying on familiar beats: the inevitable betrayal, the moment of fleeting solidarity, the tragic downfall of the one character who dared to hope.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.5/10
"A gritty crime drama with strong performances but struggles to escape familiar tropes."
The film’s lead actors deliver compelling performances, particularly in their portrayal of youthful defiance and moral ambiguity. However, the story often feels recycled, leaning heavily on well-worn crime drama clichés. latestnetflix.com's read is that while the visual style and tone are praised for their intensity, some find the pacing uneven and the emotional payoff underwhelming.
What viewers praise
- Strong lead performances Nat Kitcharit and Arak Amornsupasiri bring depth and energy to their roles, making their characters feel authentic.
- Gritty visual style The film’s cinematography and tone effectively capture the raw, tense atmosphere of its crime-driven narrative.
- Authentic youth portrayal The depiction of young characters navigating moral dilemmas resonates with viewers who appreciate realistic coming-of-age elements.
Common complaints
- Predictable plot The story follows too many familiar crime drama tropes, leaving little room for surprise or innovation.
- Uneven pacing Some scenes drag while others feel rushed, disrupting the film’s flow and emotional impact.
- Underdeveloped side characters Supporting roles lack depth, making it hard to invest in their arcs or motivations.
Recommended for
Crime drama enthusiasts Fans of gritty indie films Viewers who enjoy character-driven stories Thai cinema lovers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsNakthong put the 4 Kings boys in a cellblock
Puttipong Nakthong already had a Thai youth-gang hit. 4 Kings followed vocational-school crews the country had written off. For In Youth We Trust he kept the bruised faces and moved them from schoolyards into a juvenile lockup. latestnetflix.com's read is that Osaka's festival notes call the film a follow-up to that duology, a prison picture about how those rooms become dumps for people nobody wants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWt7_O9wU4s
The official trailer, posted by producer Neramitnung Film, sells the reunion in plain credits. Nat Kitcharit, Arak Amornsupasiri, Itkron Pungkiatrussamee, Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, Benjamin Joseph Varney, and Todsapol Maisuk are on the card. The caption names Nakthong as coming from the 4 Kings team. Thai theaters opened it on 28 November 2024. The English title sits over the native one, Wai Noom 2544. In the Buddhist calendar 2544 is 2001, the same early-2000s youth-gang window 4 Kings already mined.
Nakthong's plot, as the Osaka Asian Film Festival printed it for the Japan premiere, is blunt. Pueak is a street kid bullied because his mother deals drugs. He shoots a local teen and lands in a brutal detention centre. Golf and Fluke help him last the day. Beer and Boy, the house enforcers, wait for a fight meant to end his life as a victim. Arak plays Beer. Nat plays Pueak. Varney is Golf. The festival logged 130 minutes, Thai dialogue, Japanese and English subtitles, and a Japan premiere on 15 March 2025 inside Thai Cinema Kaleidoscope 2025. Screenings sat at Theatre Umeda Cinema 4.
The production house's own page splits the prison into two houses that do not share a hallway. Ban Fang Thon and Ban Khlong Toei sit on opposite sides of the wall, and the copy says nobody yields. Co-producer Shinesaeng Ad.Venture is listed with Neramitnung. MyDramaList reprints a Bangkok Post-sourced logline. Pueak accepts bullying to survive outside, then finds prison is the same reject pile with a lock. That is the story Nakthong is selling, not a secret recast. He is restaging 4 Kings' class bruise as a cellblock. ,
Netflix USA added the film on 20 March 2025, five days after Osaka's first screening. New On Netflix lists Neramitnung Film and Shinesaeng Ad.Venture, a TV-MA certificate, 2 hours 12 minutes, Thai audio, and English among the subtitle tracks. The streamer synopsis is shorter than Osaka's. A poor young man with a troubled childhood is sent to prison after a shooting and must fight among its gangs. Trade coverage has not produced salary figures or a quote about who improvised what. The documented move is simpler. Nakthong put the 4 Kings actors into a detention story, premiered it in Bangkok, screened it in Osaka, then let Netflix take the US window.
If a whisper attaches to this title, it is the year in the Thai name. Nakthong did not hide the sequel energy. He put it in the trailer credit. The same three 4 Kings leads walk back into harm's way, this time with a wall between two houses and a shooting on Pueak's file. Festival programmers in Osaka treated that as enough. Netflix treated it as enough. The rest of the rumor mill has been filling silence with improvisation talk that no interview has backed. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.