“I started reading real letters published during that time and found them fascinating. They reflect many societal issues, which inspired me to create a character like Dr. Climax who answers sexual questions, along with other characters related to the column and the newspaper.”
– Kondej
Dr. Climax: Questions of Passion is a fresh new addition to Netflix’s growing lineup of Southeast Asian (SEA) productions that guides viewers through the early stages of sexual education in Thailand.
On the surface, the story of a mild-mannered dermatologist moonlighting as a sex columnist is a promising premise for a hit comedy-drama. Especially if the recent critical acclaim garnered by Sex Education is anything to go by.
And, given that Sayew, a Thai romantic-comedy exploring the lives of sex column writers during the political unrest of May 1992, was Kongdej Jaturanrasmee’s directorial debut—
Co-directing a series based on real letters submitted to a sexual advice column seems like a no-brainer.
Still, while Dr. Climax may share some thematic similarities with another raunchy, critically acclaimed Netflix series about being sexually awkward,
I would argue that this Thai period comedy-drama has managed to carve out a unique space for itself through its whimsical approach to visual storytelling in addition to its educational merits.
A Unique Cultural Narrative
Since its debut, Doctor Climax has swiftly risen to the #1 spot on Netflix Thailand, hinting at its potential for international acclaim, much like another successful Kongdej Jaturanrasmee project, Hunger (2023).
And there is no question that a large part of this is probably due to its colourful setting and standout production team.
While shows like The Deuce and Minx explore social and cultural shifts during the 1970s in North America, Dr. Climax is a vibrant homage to a culturally conservative and sexually repressed 1970s Bangkok.
This allows showrunners like Kongdej and Pairach Khumwan (the latter of whom directed both seasons of Girl From Nowhere) to infuse the narrative with a sense of time and place that is both nostalgic and specific.
The depiction of the “front page wars” between Siam and Bangkok News is especially interesting for audiences who may not know how Thai media publications leveraged sex and sensationalism to drive sales and influence societal discourse during this bygone era of print journalism.
It’s a political tug-of-war that highlights the ongoing fight for marriage equality in Thailand while satirizing the media politics of the time, with varying degrees of success.
Still, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, the writer and showrunner of Doctor Climax, seems to have a good handle on what is universally funny about sex, whether it’s in Thailand in the 1970s or the present day in North America, which makes it accessible in a way that extends well beyond Thai borders.
Achieving that Retro 70s Charm
Most of the praise from audiences seems to center around the shows ability to recreate a version of 1970s Bangkok that feels authentic and historically-accurate.
A feat of artistic direction, Cinematographer Pairach Khumwan manages to deliver through a combination of carefully chosen locations, vibrant costumes inspired by the fashions of the era and meticulous set design.
Costume Design
Costume designers play a crucial role in interpreting character personalities, historical periods, cultural contexts, and thematic elements through their designs.
And, the production for Dr. Climax is no exception.
The costumes for the show range from retro-cool, oversized aviator-style glasses with tinted lenses, wide-collared button-ups, and trousers to stunning wrap dresses, mini skirts, and flowy blouses.
All with the bold, eclectic color combinations and psychedelic patterns common for the era; including paisley, geometric shapes, and large floral prints.
An aesthetic choice that also helps draw a visually distinctive line of separation between the more progressive and open-minded characters like Linda with their more conservative peers.
Nowhere is this more clear than Tukta’s transformation from a socially conservative woman just beginning to find her voice to one with a sense of agency and a healthy level of kink to explore.
Location Scouting
According to several interviews, recreating a believable 1970s setting in a rapidly modernizing city like Bangkok posed significant challenges for the production team. Which is probably why the series was primarily filmed in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.
This choice allowed filmmakers to scout out promising stretches of landscape that could convincingly represent the era by leveraging a mix of historical buildings and shophouses that still exist in the largely urban environment.
Still, even a block of ten period-accurate homes required careful filming angles to avoid capturing out-of-place modern elements. And the team had to rely heavily on the use of visual effects to “fill in the gaps” while maintaining historical accuracy.
All of which serve to transport audiences to a place and time that may feel completely foreign but also strangely familiar.
Visual Techniques
While it might be easy to assume Dr. Climax simply leverages explicit content to maintain its appeal, the cinematic choices being leveraged suggest otherwise.
From a technical standpoint, the series utilizes a variety of tools, including colour theory, visual narrative conventions, and camera work, to create a distinctive visual style with a keen focus on character-driven narratives.
Certain segments, like Dr. Nat’s fanciful daydreams about his book, even employ one-off lenses and effects to create a vignette around certain scenes or reference the ‘retro’ colour grading effects of films from the era.
Experimenting With Narrative Conventions
Creator and executive producer Ekachai Uekrongtham based large segments of “Doctor Climax”, including its entire premise, off of a sexual advice column published during the period.
As a result, each episode features letters from real people about topics like masturbation, performance anxiety or general anatomy questions. A choice that lends distinct believability to the side characters that write in to Dr. Climax.
Interestingly, each episode was also crafted to feel like a separate movie. An episodic approach that allows for a diverse exploration of storytelling techniques and character arcs while maintaining a continuous narrative thread with each installment.
Which is also where a lot of the delightful weirdness comes from.
Color Palette and Composition
Color theory is used to great effect throughout the production of Dr. Climax. Generally, the choice to embrace muted pastels or bright pops of colour seems to coincide with which ‘world’ the narrative is currently operating in.
While authentic furniture pieces and cars lend a retro feel to the entire scene through strategic, minimalistic placement.
Embracing the Cheese
Although the taboo topics being discussed could be considered fairly daring for present-day Thailand the sex scenes themselves are fairly ordinary when compared to international films and series.
Weirdly, what makes many of these scenes stand out are the bizarre and often extremely cheesy VFX choices that make these mostly fine sex scenes thoroughly enjoyable.
Over the course of a single scene, we get to see an actress;
✅ Sitting on a toilet in a canoe
✅ In front of a trashy green screen
✅ Receiving mock fellatio
while the wind from a fan off-stage blows her hair around dramatically.
Then we are treated to fake fire VFX and a volcano explosion. (Also fake). And that’s only the first episode.
Throughout the series the production team experiments with a lot of absurd and kind of silly ways to represent these experiences that border on telenovela-esque.
But don’t necessarily go all the way into addictive melodrama like some shows I could name.
This unexpected injection of humour consistently delivers. But, the resulting tonal shifts can feel very strange when the writers decide to explore darker themes that don’t quite mesh with the show’s mostly playful attitude.
Conclusion
Despite some pacing issues and unresolved cliffhangers, the series already excels at delivering an enjoyable blend of humor, drama and social critique.
If critical reception is anything to go by—
Dr. Climax’s high production value and absurd cinematic choices come together to support something that manages to be funny while tackling broad themes that could be very appealing to Western audiences.
At present, it’s unclear whether there will be any additional seasons as the show is fairly self-contained.
But it’s an interesting case study of what contemporary TV can look like when it’s spearheaded by an eclectic tag-team operation whose primary focus is on innovative storytelling and bold visual choices.
You may also like
⚠️Content Warning: Gottmik Is Serving Up Fierce, Iconic and Controversial
The Art of the Menu (2022)—Easter Eggs and Influences You Probably Missed
Revisiting Portraits from The House of Flowers (2018) Netflix Series Opening Credits Sequences
Balenciaga’s Teddy Bear Holiday Campaign is More Than A ‘Series of Grievous Errors’
The Artists Behind Every Iron Maiden Album Cover Ever