The Jiraanan family is a wealthy ethnic Chinese business family, whose extended family spans three generations. Grandfather and Grandmother have four children. Prasoet, the eldest son, heads the family business, Jirananta Hotel, and manages its main Bangkok location, while Phatson, the only daughter, manages its Pattaya branch. Met, the second son, is a single stay-at-home parent, while the youngest son Konkan lives a playboy lifestyle. Among them, they have nine third-generation children. The family members seem to get along well as they celebrate A-gong's birthday, but when he dies of old age shortly after, and his will is revealed to exclude Phatson from inheritance of the hotel, she gets into an argument with Prasoet regarding its management. Prasoet is then found dead from a gunshot in his bedroom, and Phatson becomes a prime suspect. Prasoet's wife Chris also becomes suspected when it is revealed that Prasoet had been seeing a mistress for twenty years. The grandchildren, especially Prasoet and Chris's son Pete and Phatson's eldest son Yi, become involved as each family tries to prove their innocence and uncover the mystery of the case.
Cast
Songsit Roongnophakunsri as Prasoet, the family's eldest son and CEO of the family business, Jirananta Hotel
Saksit Tangthong as Met, the second son, a stay-at-home single parent
Kathaleeya McIntosh as Phatson, the third child and only daughter, Managing Director of the Jirananta Hotel Pattaya
Sopitnapa Choompanee as Chris Chen, Prasoet's wife
Apasiri Nitibhon as Nipha, Prasoet's mistress/second wife who is undergoing treatment for cancer
In Family We Trust was conceived as part of 4Nologue's Nine by Nine project, in which nine young performers were enrolled to form a pop idol group and would, in addition to releasing an album and going on tour, act in a TV series. 4Nologue CEO Anuwat Wichiennarat approached Songyos with the project, and Songyos agreed to produce the series, initially intending to invite one of the directors from his 2017 series Project S to join. As the project progressed, however, its ambition increased in scale, and Songyos decided to direct the series himself. Songyos hoped to target a wider audience than the teen and young adult demographic which his previous work catered to, and proposed the series to Takonkiet Viravan, One 31's CEO, asking for the evening prime time slot. Inspired by 1980s Hong Kongtelevision dramas and their cutthroat family storylines, he and the writing team developed the story around an ethnic Chinese family with generational conflicts over traditional values. He enlisted a large cast of veteran adult actors, who helped anchor the story and give it a broader appeal. Songyos noted that the story did not have a main protagonist, and that all twenty-five characters were equally important, even though their airtime inevitably differed. He also said of the story that it was first and foremost about family, and that the murder mystery was a secondary element. A blessing ceremony, marking the start of the series' production, was held on 21 March 2018. Filming commenced around May, and finished in August. The score was composed by Terdsak Janpan and recorded with a full-size orchestra, conducted by Trisdee na Patalung. The series was officially announced at a press event on 5 September.
Release and reception
In Family We Trust was originally slated to be broadcast on channel One 31 during 21:15–22:45 on Saturdays, beginning on 1 September, but the schedule was later changed to twice weekly, 20:45 on Fridays and 20:10 on Saturdays. The first episode was released on 14 September. In addition to the TV broadcast, each episode is released to the free Line TVstreaming service at 22:00 on the same day. The series received hugely enthusiastic responses online, becoming widely discussed on social media. The premiere inspired extensive discussions regarding Chinese Thai culture, and many commented on the story's parallels to real-life familial disputes such as that of the Thammawattana family, whose scion Hangthong's mysterious death in 1999 became a national sensation. However, TV viewership figures were comparatively poor. The premiere received Nielsen ratings of 0.802, a drop from the 1.2 averaged by MX Muay Xtreme, the Muay Thai programme which previously occupied the time slot, and trailed far behind the dramas of mainstream Channel 3 and Channel 7, which received ratings of 5.627 and 5.349, respectively. Subsequent weekly ratings gradually increased, but were still disappointing for its scale of production. The series' poor television performance has been attributed to its younger viewership, who preferred to watch through online over-the-top services rather than on traditional live television.
