True cinephiles might find some value in looking at a different kind of cinematic artisanship... Yet most of this slice of Thai history is too caught up in coddling the emotional states of its characters to go beyond that initial novelty.

This story about a traveling cinema troupe bringing dubbed movies to rural outposts in Thailand just doesn't have the heft or grandeur to merit 137 minutes of film.

Though it spends most of its runtime re-forging nostalgia for bygone eras—its characters become vessels, rather than fully formed human beings—it succeeds in creating a sense of familiarity with Thai cinema history even for newcomers.

Here’s the thing with Once Upon A Star — it’s a very generic biopic. It goes by the numbers even with the humour added. It should be unique because of the story, but it just simply coasts by.