I'm the type of person who gives everything a chance, because I tend to like almost everything, at least a little. But when a show like Mad Unicorn, which is supposed to make you feel inspired and motivated, falls so flat that I can't even pretend to like it. The 7-episode TV show is a boredom-fest about Thailand's first unicorn startup.
It tells the story of Santi, a very poor young man who can't even afford a pack of noodles as a child, which motivates him to become rich enough as an adult to give his mother and brother a happy life. While the show's intentions are clear, it just doesn't quite stick. It's overly long, with problem after problem until you wonder why you chose to watch this nonsense. The truth is, I have nothing against startup culture or the lack of work-life balance—it's just a shame. Besides, it's how I choose to live my life (sigh), but unfortunately, the show's glorification of working myself to death doesn't evoke the compelling or motivating feeling of this story, which could have been deeply moving.
Stars: Natara Nopparatayapon, Jane Methika Jiranorraphat, Palang Rocksilp
The problem lies in how it makes the protagonist, Santi, seem like a superhero, rather than a human being in distress. This is especially evident in the first half of the series, where there's a scene where the man sets himself on fire and continues on unbothered because he's so eager to get what he wants. This makes the whole thing feel very flippant, like an anime rather than real life, which the show is clearly based on. While the show is fast-paced and doesn't take any breaks, it's overloaded with chaos, which gives it a cartoonish feel. Honestly, I was quite bored at first because this show doesn't really bring anything new to the table; it's quite conventional, and everything feels overstuffed.
I guess the creators knew that if they wanted to create a gritty, seven-episode startup story, they'd have to flesh it out, as they felt a simple rags-to-riches story wouldn't work. This is where the whole process falls flat, because it's the revenge aspect that makes it so fake that you lose interest as soon as the sabotage spirals out of control, and you start to get tired of waiting to hear the "hows" instead of the "whats." I guess it seems like we shouldn't feel anything without a lot of drama in a series, which, honestly, isn't impressive in this case, because it feels repetitive rather than infuriating.
What I did like was the realism of the show's love story and the respect given to the female characters, who are involved in everything, rather than just a pivotal moment in the life of a man who will soon conquer the world. I think the show subverts that cliché with what it does at the end with Xiaoyu. Plus, she's one of the three founders of the company, which was great. As someone eager to watch this type of content and be motivated to be more productive, I found the series completely lacking in excitement, perhaps due to its fast and sloppy pacing. For a series that focuses on speed, it forgets what's inside the box and simply hopes to stay relevant by being as "fast" as possible.
Instead of making startup culture, finance, or even the world in general the show's main antagonist, it focuses on making one man the villain, thus turning the plot into a story of revenge, rather than self-motivation. This is what bothered me the most, and the multiple attempts at sabotage left me bitter and disinterested, rather than motivated to develop my own business development skills. Furthermore, although it's not a documentary, we don't learn much about Santi as a person, other than that he's willing to do anything to make money.
It's a very two-dimensional representation of a real person, which is quite disrespectful to the man himself. Sure, we hear him recite his life story, the reason he became who he is, but it offers no real insight into who he is. On the other hand, Ruijei, the other partner, also comes off as cartoonish, except at the end, when he becomes a different version of himself. His character is always furious and has no other task than yelling at people. And then there's Xiaoyu, who actually seems like the most developed character of all, but even she's pretty flat, and all we really know is what her life's dream is. While everyone talks about their reason for being and why they do what they do, we don't feel that emotional connection, because it's all just words.
While we love hustle culture, I wish the show didn't pound it down our throats over and over again, but instead took its time for us to savor and appreciate it. I quite liked that the show is in Mandarin and Thai, as Santi uses his language skills to propel himself forward in the business world. This was definitely the most interesting part of the show. While I found the plot and characters disappointing, the actors delivered spectacular performances. But I guess actors can always show their talent when the script is disappointing.
Also, I don't know about you, but I got the feeling the show was set way before 2015 from the way it's edited and color-graded, even with all the technology on screen. But maybe that's just my bias against the sepia filter applied to any show or movie these days, to ensure the story is set at least a decade ago. It's a shame I didn't enjoy Mad Unicorn, and I especially don't recommend it if you want to motivate yourself to become an entrepreneur. I think you're better off watching interviews with the actual author or reading his story. That said, I give Mad Unicorn 1.5 out of 5 stars.
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