The Evil Lawyer review – gripping, twisty and ludicrously hammy
By The Guardian, June 13, 2026If the title of this Thai crime-thriller-cum-courtroom-drama feels a little splashy, wait until you meet the scoundrel in question.
Her name is Jittri, and she is, at least at the show’s outset, a pantomime villain in a power suit, her hair even bigger than her ego. Known for getting murky clients off the hook by any dirty trick necessary, she stiletto-struts in slow motion, flashes a trademark crooked smirk after each victory, and (like all bona fide wrong ’uns) wears sunglasses inside. If she had a moustache, she would absolutely be twirling it.
But don’t be fooled; one boo-hiss baddie does not a pantomime make. Directed by Nottapon Boonprakob, whose 2025 drama Mad Unicorn won a clutch of awards, this eight-episode series may be tonally erratic and at times faintly ridiculous, but it also has confronting questions about power, corruption and systemic injustice plus a gripping, twisty plot.
We open with Jittri (Rhatha Phongam) successfully defending her guilty client’s theft of a stillborn baby by arguing (in the presence of its mother) that the child was never a person but a “scrap of flesh”, before getting a bucket of blood to the face from protesters outside the courthouse. It’s here that our other lead, lawyer Mek (Nat Kitcharit), first encounters Jittri, his shirt stained by the blood she nonchalantly shakes off, in a foreshadowing of things to come.
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Very much not of the evil persuasion, Mek works on pro bono cases and sticks to a staunch ethical code, but after refusing to drop a case that has more than a whiff of the mob about it, he finds himself framed for the murder of the opposing lawyer, the son of corrupt police chief Anan, and facing the death penalty. In Clacks, Jittri to represent him for nothing, as long as he works on her other cases – all of which involve defending guilty parties in exchange for favours that will improve his own chances.
These cases, and Mek’s tussle between his morals and his survival, form the series’ through-line, as he slides reluctantly towards the dark side, a tangle of intertwining plot lines opens up a wider exploration of societal inequality and the limits of justice.
Mek’s search for the real killer exposes the abhorrent treatment of migrant workers; he is helped by his ex-girlfriend Ang, who is consulting for a powerful political party that may be working with Anan; Mek’s dad, a high-ranking judge, also has a history with the bent cop; and Jittri’s methods are revealed to be a result of the legal system failing her in the past. She manipulates the law, she argues, because the law doesn’t protect everyone equally.