Skip to main content

Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
Post a Comment

Krampack (Spanish) [Nico And Dani]

By Golu
This film is a very sweet story about two teenage boys who frequently engage in "Krampack" which is apparently Spanish slang for masturbation. It is about sexual awakening in the teenage years focussing on best friends Nico and Dani. A key is that the title characters are not sleazy party animals, taking advantage of women and not thinking twice about it, but sensitive and confused. Without guidance, reasoning is tough for them...especially because they are searching for who they really are, which means also coming to terms with their sexuality.

Dani is spending his summer at his parents beach house. When his parents have to leave for work, his friend from grade school Nico comes to visit him like every summer. At the house, he is tutored by Sonia, a young woman and Marianne who comes to cook the food. Nico and Dani who have been the best of friends have resorted to the "krampack" to relieve their sexual frustrations in the absence of girls to sleep with. Dani is perfectly happy with this arrangement, and indeed is looking forward to continuing it with Nico. Nico, on the other hand, is looking forward to moving on to experiences with girls. They meet Berta and Elena, 2 girls who come there every summer. Nico is clearly more interest din the girls and wants to score with them but Dani on the other side is not so interested. Dani wants to push the limit a little further with Nico but jealousy soon takes over when he sees that Nico is clearly more interested in Elena than Dani. To further complicate things, Dani strikes up a friendship with Julian, a handsome young writer in town for the summer to whom he is mutually attracted, although both are a little uncomfortable about Dani's youth. Finally Nico does manage to score with Elena who tells him very candidly that this sonly a one time thing since she already has a boyfriend. Dani's experiences with Julian finally teaches him that he has much more to learn and accept about himself and the fact that just because he like Nico, it cannot force Nico to like him in the same way.
Through affairs, misunderstandings, and a disastrous dinner party, the story moves along to an inevitable, yet satisfying conclusion.

This film is warm and entertaining and a sensitive and respectful meditation on human sexuality and human development. The acting, setting of the film, chemistry between the two friends is very real and natural. It is so refreshing to see this film, specially after you have seen similar them attempts by a American films which fall flat compared to this one. In Nico and Dani no judgments are ever made, no sensitivities hidden or prejudices espoused, just the sincere and objective exploration of the human condition shown as natural as it occurs in life. There is no real sadness or depression, just a normal struggle to find one's own self. Both the characters are well defined. I so loved the fact the friendship remained in tact. The scenes between the 2 boys can so mutiliate a friendship but with some maturity level that the boys possessed, they end up remaining the close friends they were and at the same time realizing and accepting things about themselves that they dared not before.

It's a fresh, happy little film, well photographed and the subject matter intelligently handled. (7.5/10)
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
The reason why American films fall flat when dealing with subjects such as these is because we are a very large country in the USA with very different belief systems in place. I know this film is set on the very expensive seacoast near Barcelona so Dani must come from a lot of money and through his Mom, the reason why she even knows that hot guy Julian is because she's a rather eccsentric and "artsy-fartsy" person. One thing you didn't mention is that Nico does do something rather evil when he spikes wine he, Dani and the girls drink with sleeping pills so that he and Danny can easily fuck the girls when they get totally wasted and fall asleep. Remember when the girl who's interested in Dani gets sick because of the wine she drank? I find it interesting that when Dani later gets drunk on wine because he wants an illicit affair with Julian, Dani himself gets sick from drinking too much wine and I love how Julian actually becomes a mentor with Dani on the subject of how to approach this gay sex thing there. Dani is far more intelligent, than Nico is anyways and I believe that since they were maturing anyways, the relationship wouldn't endure forever. Nico is destined to become a motorcycle mechanic who is always conning women and rarely scoring while Dani will go to university, end up with probably several great lovers and maybe write like Julian? That writing thing. It wouldn't be unheard of if an older, more experienced Dani set his sites on Julian. This is a great film and once again, I am so happy that I am half Spanish since Spain appears in many ways to be far more progressive that the USA where I live. Also, it is the tendency in the USA to cast much older actors in roles having to do with sex so that no one in the production team gets suspected of dealing with underage sex or promoting it. That's just the thinking of self-righteous And, in many cases, out-right stupid and bigoted Christian fanatics in this country.
January 31, 2017 at 10:27 AM
Golu said…
loved your last statement. can't stop laughing but very accurately said. :)
February 1, 2017 at 6:54 AM
lina said…
I so much agree with you on this one, there is no hate no dramatic separation, no big liar game. Just some awkward time like in every teenage time. It's also frustrating for us we understand Dani struggle (who go way too far by the way). And I like the fact that Dani is not attracted by every gay in town. Sweet coming of age movie, America is such a drama queen and predictable .
March 24, 2018 at 9:55 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

By Golu
I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...
1 comment
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...
5 comments
Read more