'The Promise' is based on that axiom that the Spanish group "La Oreja de Van Gogh" sang: "true love is only the first" with the story of an interrupted love, a love rooted in childhood and entrenched until adulthood, pure, transparent, chaste.
For this reason, the series appeals to a nostalgia for the past, to an idealization brought to the daily life of its main characters, two children: Nanfah/"Nan" and Phupha/"Phu", who grew up together in a remote village in Chiang Mai and that, as children, they begin to build a very good friendship and fall in love with each other, as children fall in love on the threshold of adolescence, in a visceral and tragic way—a bond that is abruptly broken when both separate.
Narrated in two timelines: the past and the present, we see how in their childhood Phu and Nan meet and become inseparable friends. The two share dreams, adventures and secrets. They both promised each other that they would never leave each other, but Phupha can't help but fear losing Nanfah if he revealed that he is in love with him. When his feelings, which go beyond friendship, get in the way of the two, Phu decides to break the promise, lie to his friend and walk away from him.
Oblivious to the reason why Phu broke the promise, Nan searches for him for ten years without success. After this time, they meet again under unexpected circumstances, when Phu moves into the apartment across the street by a coincidence of fate.
At present, Nan and Phu's trajectories have taken different paths. Nanfah, masterfully played by Wattikorn Permsubhirun (Kiak), is a successful graphic designer and aspires to positively impact the world of cosmetics promotion for the Devonte company, for which he works. Meanwhile, Phu, played superbly and with great rigor by Kittikun Tansuhas (Kun), an introverted boy with a fear of the public, spends his time helping his grandmother Namfon (Ruthaiwan Wongsirasawat), an endearing character who will steal the hearts of the public, on the family coffee farm.
After moving to Bangkok, Phu focuses on fulfilling his dreams of running a coffee shop, but destiny has in store for him to become a famous marketing agency model under the care and protection of Nan.
From the meeting, the plot explores the changes in their lives, their personal aspirations, the friendly and working relationships they form with other people, the challenges they face, and how love and friendship intertwine to unite them again, while It also addresses themes such as family, forgiveness, identity and destiny.
With a melancholic and romantic tone, very different from other Thai BL series that I have reviewed on MDL, but also with moments of humor and tenderness, the drama tells us how the two protagonists feel confused and excited when they meet again after so long. However, misunderstandings and obstacles will arise that prevent them from expressing their true feelings. The physical distance has been reduced, but the old barrier takes time to disappear.
Carlos Gardel said that "20 years are nothing." The legendary Argentine tango singer lies. Ten years is a lot. It seems like a lot for two people who love each other to have to be away from each other for so long, but the series, based on a novel of the same name written by Thanyathorn Siwanukroh, who is also the screenwriter of the adaptation, and directed by Kongkiat Khomsiri, known, in addition to his work in horror and action films, as one of the directors of 'KinnPorsche', tells a story based on real events.
Both director and screenwriter know that it is important for the viewer to feel that in the voids caused by the absences, distances and disagreements of Nan and Phu in those years in which the lives of both take separate paths, without knowing about each other, lies the heart of the series, and it is the weight of that absence, of its melancholic background, that makes their reunion so beautiful and moving.
In the characters, the distance that separated them in their youth has become an ocean, which both will try to bridge once the long-awaited reunion occurs. And in this reunion of two children who fell in love, Kongkiat Khomsiri shows his talent because he avoids grandiose speeches, of unbridled feelings, and lets the camera show us what is happening without having to explain anything, spreading a sensation, breathing life into the image.
The director creates a delicate and moving narrative and each shot, each sequence, contains an emotion about to explode. There is no unnecessary accentuation, nor vain repetitions. There is good cinematography, and the dialogues are precise and brilliant. There is a lot of image, as an excellent television series should be.
As time passes, both characters, who express themselves through subtle gestures, glances and silences, navigate victories, losses, obstacles and disappointments. However, despite these setbacks and distances, they always find their way back to each other.
The series is wrapped in nostalgia and that melancholic atmosphere of the reunion of the protagonist couple that ends up becoming a love that overcomes everything. No matter the distance, the passage of time or the attempts of other potential lovers to win the love of the two of them. Nan and Phu are destined to make good on their promise and be in each other's lives for the rest of their lives.
We are then faced with a beautiful story about first love, the one that is born in childhood, continues in youth and is reborn in maturity. The one you try to stay alive hundreds of kilometers away, with a computer or mobile screen that separates an abyss of possibilities and in which you write and cry, and there are no answers or consolation. A feeling that is stopped and repressed by the emptiness that that person leaves, by not being able to look into the eyes, not being able to caress or kiss the other. Finally, there comes a time in adulthood when a second chance may present itself that could be the definitive one.
In this way, the series also explores the connection between the present and the past across two eras, while portraying the complexity of human relationships and the concept of keeping promises.
In other words, the essence of 'The Promise' lies in the evolution of the relationship between the main characters played by the magnetic couple of actors, from their childhood to maturity, addressing the complexities of their love, marked by farewells (or their absence) and reunions over the years. Through this time journey, it examines how divergences and personal challenges affect their bond, while highlighting the lessons and transformations they experience. Likewise, the series invites the viewer to reflect on the nature of destiny, love, promises and decisions.
As you can imagine, the meeting after a decade without seeing each other is full of emotion and meaning. Nan, who has many questions and demands an explanation for the disappearance, will find an evasive friend who refuses to answer her. They are no longer the two children, teenagers, or recent college graduates they once were, and their connection is revealed to be different: exciting but uncomfortable, satisfying but frustrating, free but in need of sacrifice, declarations, and reassurances. Faced with silence, both finally focus on rebuilding their friendship.
The dramatic force of 'The Promise' lies, above all, in the performances, and the staging is purely narrative. The series deepens a prequel in two medium-length films, filmed in 2022 by Choi Sittichai ('21 Days Theory', 2022), and named after its protagonists, 'Phupha' and 'Nanfah', also starring Kun and Kiak .
With very high production values, beautiful photography, vibrant cinematography, precise artistic direction in creating a cozy and nostalgic atmosphere, and successful placement of flashbacks to mark the two timelines, the series narrates the difficulties that occur when one of the Lovers believe that romance is not possible and choose to put distance between them: will the feelings remain fleeting and remain forever in no man's land? Can the two young people make up for time and keep their promise to always be in each other's lives?
As one of the best Thai-made BL series of all time and my favorite, the looks, the silences and a relationship that says more with gestures than with words shine. The actors manage to convey those feelings that arise between two people who know each other and have loved each other despite distances and secrets, and who meet again years later.
The secondary characters add diversity and color to the story, especially Party (Boss), Nan's best friend and Phu's rival; Deena (Marima), Nan's rival for Phu's love; Khunkhao (Seagames), Phu's unknown brother who will challenge him for Nan's love, Giegie (Mint), Nan's friend and co-worker, Ken (Lift), Devonte's director, without forgetting Oliang, Nan's cat who quickly becomes the son of the two protagonists.
Kiak and Kun manage to convey to the viewer that tension between friendship and love as a couple that is not always easy to manage. The human quality of the characters, and the use of the soundtrack to convey each of the moments experienced by the two young protagonists, with songs performed by themselves, keep the audience in pleasant tension during every second that the episodes last 10 episodes of about 50 minutes each.
Despite being framed in the romantic genre, 'The Promise' tries to go further in its narrative proposal, to become an ode to love and true and sincere friendship, a reflection of the differences between a person who fears revealing his feelings and another that hopes to listen to them, between two ways of facing life, that can come to understand and love each other above those differences.
In short, a beautiful and delicious series, one of those that leaves a mark, and a good one, because it will make you laugh, cry, sigh and dream of a love that transcends time, distances and countless obstacles.