Davika Hoorne and Banjong Pisanthanakun on Toronto Title ‘Inherit’

Davika Hoorne and director Banjong Pisanthanakun are opening up about “Inherit,” the psychological horror film that reunites the pair and will have its world premiere in the Centrepiece program at the Toronto Film Festival, with Hoorne starring as a centuries-old, demon-possessed grandmother.

The film follows the Manasvanich family, whose wealth and polish mask deep secrets once an unexpected relative arrives at their door. Hoorne plays Woranart, a grandmother in her 80s whose youthful looks conceal a centipede spirit searching for a new host, with Oui (Baipor Thitiya Jirapornsilp), the family’s youngest member, emerging as her likely target. The film is based on “Tayard Asoon,” a Thai horror novel translated in English as “The Demon’s Heir.”

Hoorne says the role demanded more than scares. “Horror isn’t new to me, but ‘Inherit’ was a real shift,” Hoorne says. “Playing this centuries-old demon matriarch felt much more layered. I had to capture the weight of her memories, not just her scare factor. It became all about subtle signals – a glance, a pause. It was demanding, but immensely rewarding.”

The film reunites Pisanthanakun with Hoorne, who starred in his 2013 blockbuster horror hit “Pee Mak,” still the highest-grossing Thai film ever released. Hoorne more recently starred in “A Useful Ghost,” winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at Cannes 2025. Pisanthanakun says finding the right locations is essential to his filmmaking. “It’s extremely important,” he says. “I feel that fresh visuals and unique atmospheres are essential for making horror movies this day, so I pay a lot of attention to locations and settings.” For “Inherit,” he says the family’s mansion “actually combined three real locations plus a sound stage to create a single location that matched the exact mood we wanted.”

Pisanthanakun, who broke through internationally with “Shutter,” points to Thailand’s ghost-story culture as fertile ground for the genre. “Thai people are obsessed with ghost stories,” he says. “It seems in our DNA. If Japan has manga and Korea has webtoons, Thailand has call-in ghost stories programs. It’s really become our modern cultural heritage.”

He says he’s equally encouraged watching Thai cinema branch beyond that genre internationally, pointing to the family drama “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies,” the thriller “Bad Genius” and the horror-action hit “Death Whisperer” as evidence the country’s films are traveling well past ghost stories.