The ending of the Thai film Flat Girls is disappointingly dry and doesn't answer any questions. This coming-of-age film, currently streaming on Netflix, revolves around two girls, Jane and Ann, who grew up together in the "flats," apartments assigned to police officers and their families. Ann's father died two years earlier, but thanks to Jane's mother, her family can continue living in the apartments. Her mother is a gamer, and Ann has three younger sisters, so of course she has to play the responsible older sister.
I'm guessing you know right off the bat that the moral of this film is that adults always make the messes, and the children have to endure the suffering. In Ann's case, she's seeking freedom, while Jane's seemingly perfect life is ruined when her father decides to leave her mother and live with his new lover in a fancy new place. The women living in the flats rely solely on their partners' income, but Jane's mother lends money to the residents to help them out. She also seems to have some side work; Maybe that's why she can stay and provide Jane with a decent lifestyle. Jane and Ann may live in the same place and have grown up together, but at the end of the day, Ann has ambition, while Jane simply cares about keeping things as they are. This is where the real problem begins. That said, let's delve into the ending of Flat Girls and try to figure out what happened to Ann.
Director: Jirassaya Wongsutin
Writer: Jirassaya Wongsutin
Stars: Fairy Kirana Pipityakorn, Fatima Dechawaleekul, Pakorn Chadborirak
The movie subtly hints that Ann might be romantically interested in Jane. At first, it seems like Jane is more obsessed, that she has feelings, and that Ann probably likes men, but it's actually the other way around. Jane is simply confused, and when the girls kiss midway through the movie, Jane feels more confused than ever. It's not that she doesn't like Ann; she just doesn't feel any different at that moment. This makes Ann very sad because she felt the opposite and was the one who told Jane they should "touch eyelashes." That level of closeness is hard to achieve, and Ann definitely had a thing for Jane, which is why she forced her to do it. The other problem is that Jane and Ann have different financial situations. When Jane tells Ann she can live with her, Ann immediately asks if she wants her to live as a maid. On the other hand, she's never willing to accept the spare badminton racket Jane has because she feels she owes her one and doesn't want money to interfere with their relationship. But really, the big problem begins when Tong gets involved.
Tong is a policeman who lives alone in one of the apartments. He's much older than the girls, but they end up becoming friends, and he even teaches them and a friend how to drive. Tong is the adult male figure both girls needed in their lives. Ann's father has died, but Jane's is also quite absent. Near the end of the film, we learn that he's leaving them, but we don't see him throughout the entire story. This makes the girls especially vulnerable with Tong. The relationship between Tong and Jane is very natural. He calls her "piggy" because she reminds him of his young daughter, "piggy." There's nothing inappropriate about that. They are both friends and enjoy each other's company. However, I don't think Ann knows about her daughter's situation because she starts to feel jealous when she realizes how close they have become. And no, I don't think it's because she's jealous of Jane.
Ann feels claustrophobic in the flats because she wants to get away. She doesn't like the familiarity; she wants to be free, unlike Jane, who claims she could live there forever, as long as Ann is with her. This is, of course, a matter of convenience. Again, it all comes down to her financial situation. This is what gives Ann the ambition to leave. Ann says she wants to be a flight attendant because the only thing left for her is to marry a policeman and live in the flats. Ann speaks English, works full time, and we can assume she's also good at school, so, to be honest, she could have achieved her goals.
Besides, she's pretty. But Ann is fed up with the lifestyle she's leading because her mother doesn't seem to care how much she works. She even asks why she had it, because her mother tells her she knows she's going to leave them like her father did. I think this is the final straw, because up until then, she'd been managing pretty well. To top it all off, Jane sees Ann walk into Tong's house one day and tell her she left her phone. Jane immediately assumes they're together. But we're not sure about this statement. The night before, Ann needed comfort, and that's what Tong did for her. She told her she didn't need to feel like the older sister all the time and work tirelessly for her siblings. Even though Tong is broke, she gives Ann money to help.
But the next thing we know, the whole building is gossiping, and Ann's mother wants her to marry Tong. Just like that. Even though she's still in school, he's at least 15 years older than her and has a son. It's as if Ann's mother is selling her to keep the house, and she's not even ashamed. Of course, Ann would feel suffocated in such an environment. Finally, one day, when Ann accidentally drops a scarf and follows it, Jane sees her and runs after her. Ann takes her hand and leads her to the cruise.
This cruise is important because they both always wondered where she went, and Tong showed her. They planned to go together, so that's what they do now. But when Jane closes her eyes, Ann disappears, and what remains is the ring Jane gave her to sell so she could pay her mother. In the "Flat Girls" finale, it seems like nothing has changed, and no one seems to be concerned, not even Jane, who was with Ann one second and gone the next. Ann's disappearance is presented as an elopement.
Everyone knew she wanted to escape, so it was obviously the only reasonable thing to do, but what if Ann decided to jump into the water that night and take her own life because she was fed up with it all? Sure, she was ambitious, but there's only so much one can tolerate. In this scene, some time has passed since Jane moved out, and everyone has gotten used to life without Ann. Jane leaves her mark on the flats by spray-painting everyone's names on the wall, both the children's and Tong's, reassuring herself that he was important to her too. At the end of the film, Jane takes a tuk-tuk back to the flats and probably pays 60 baht for it. She doesn't have to worry about a measly 10 baht. This brings us back to the first scene of the film, where Ann gets the girls a free ride in a police truck on the way to the flats.
At the end, Jane calls Ann, who is no longer available, and tells her she's still hoping for a first-class flight on the flight where she works. I guess it's easier to believe Ann escaped and will achieve her dreams, because if they think she's dead, there's no one to blame but themselves. Either way, Ann is finally free and Jane moves out, so everything is different and nothing will ever be the same. It's better to hope that Ann and Jane will reunite someday in the future, rather than thinking about a morbid ending.
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