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 ...
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Danny is a struggling black actor/waiter, and his ex-partner Pip lives a comfortable upper-class existence with his overly controlling mother whose racist tendencies are very evident. And this is primarily the reason for their breakup. Danny is taking a course in private investigation in preparation for a possible role. There are a series of robberies happening in gay sex parties but none of the victims is contacting the police for the fear of being outed. These are all profile people. When Pip becomes the latest victim, he asks Danny to take up this case. As pissed as Danny is about his playboy nature and insensitivity, the residual spark still between them motivates the actor to help, however reluctantly. They come up with ideas with the hep of Danny's teacher to uncover this suspense. The finale or the reality when exposed is not as exciting as one would expect, but nevertheless, I don't think that shocking the audience was ever the expectation. But Pip's current bf coming out as one of the culprits really doesn't surprise.
I thought the acting was a little amateurish by the leads, despite this being an attempt for a comedy-thriller. I think a little more polish from the lead actors could have made a huge difference. Nonetheless they were cute, specially Danny. The mother was the worst actor. Similarly, the reason for the loots and the actors doing it, doesn't seem very convincing or menacing. But if you look from the comic angle, the amateur bumbling of Danny and Pip, makes it funny while downplaying the violence. The movie is essentially a comedy in the guise of a thriller, finding room along the way for effective moments of drama, romance and insider Hollywood jokes. There are some funny dialogues but gets bogged down with too many characters and pointless detours from the main story.
Good concept and a better direction could have given this movie a possibility of sequels. Still not bad. (6/10)
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