00:00 Midnight Incense (ธูป เที่ยงคืน วิญญาณ) has already done something a lot of small Thai horror films would kill for – it premiered internationally in Vietnam before opening in Thailand, before being picked up from overseas buyers, which is a quite rare thing to happen I believe.
A Free House With One Very Bad Condition
Praew, a young graphic designer starting a new job, is offered a place to stay in an old Thai wooden house at the back of the company’s grounds without having to pay rent, where she brings her friends Joe and Shen along, presumably thinking they’ve stumbled across the world’s least complicated housing deal.
Naturally, it isn’t.
The house has one rule – at exactly 00:00, one stick of incense has to be lit – it cannot be forgotten and it cannot be late, and the reason why becomes increasingly unpleasant as the occupants discover that the house isn’t really providing free accommodation at all – the film runs for 102 minutes and is officially classified as horror, although I will also mention that production material also describes it as combining mystery and drama.
Trailer
Worarit Ninklom Takes the Director’s Chair
The director is Worarit Ninklom, better known as Gapper, , while the production is a sizeable collaboration – True CJ Creations, 9NAA Production and Gear Head Co., Ltd. are listed among the studios behind the film, while Kantana Sound Studio and Kantana Post Production (Thailand) are involved on the sound and post-production side.
True CJ Creations is itself a joint venture between True Corporation and South Korea’s CJ ENM, so there is a fairly substantial entertainment infrastructure sitting behind what could initially look like a straightforward Thai ghost story – the principal cast is led by Sathida Sripromma as Praew, Ekkapop Tata as Joe and Ingkarat Damrongsakkul as Shen, with supporting roles for Thanapol Chuksrida, Kasitdet Detwongya, Panjai Sirisuwan and Noppawan Sukaram.
The Thai theatrical release was August 27, 2026 – But the film actually got out of Thailand first.
It Got to Vietnam Before Thai Audiences
Midnight Incense’s international life started before its domestic theatrical release though, where it was selected as the opening premiere of the 2026 Thai Film Festival in Vietnam, held in Ho Chi Minh City, where it screened at the festival’s launch in July.
The event was organised with the involvement of Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) as part of a wider push to take Thai film and entertainment further into ASEAN market, and the response reported from that screening was positive, with festival coverage saying audiences praised the film’s mystery and horror.
And the overseas push didn’t stop there either, as reports published shortly before release said the film had secured distribution deals in 10 countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos and Australia, and the producers are also looking at further sales in Asia, America and Europe.
For a Thai horror movie built around something as specifically local as an old เรือนไทย – a traditional Thai wooden house – that’s a pretty significant bit of business.
And Now We Have Actual Audience Reviews
Since release, we have had some reviews of the film gather, with one Letterboxd reviewer, Jar Thaiprasit, giving it two stars, with the review being pretty blunt about the weaknesses – the direction can feel too much like television, the screenplay is considered fairly ordinary, and the three younger leads are criticised for not having enough presence to carry the film, but the same review gives the film credit for its sound design, cinematography and atmosphere.
Another Letterboxd review rated it 3 stars, describing the film as extremely uncomfortable in places, particularly when it suddenly drops from silence into loud sound and unsettling music, while also complaining that some mysteries are not properly resolved.
Overall, the reviews on Letterboxd are fairly average though.
Check out some more Thai horror movies.
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