a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
the film is an apologue of sorts, but the message is couched in a zany and action-filled plot
The Grand Prix winner of last year’s Cannes Critics Week, filmmaker Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s snaky, surprising fable starts with a sneeze and explodes into a saga about bureaucracy, modernization and moral corruption.
The film vaguely follows the basic outline of the first half of the novel, heavily streamlining the twisted tale of family strife and generational trauma into a more conventional tragic romance centered squarely on Catherine and Heathcliff.
—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
The least satisfying tales involve a group of reasonable counterparties teaming up against a single aggressor, like an Indiana man who’s turned his grandmother’s house into an unauthorized urban farm.
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.