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 ...
The film is about three guys: Len, Meat and Phil. Len is the champion of a NSW surf life saving club and finds his position threatened by the club’s new golden boy Phil. Phil is younger, more handsome and gay. Phil being gay is an issue for Len, which we later find out does not come from ignorance, but rather his own repressed gay desires caused by an abusive father and the relentless machismo of his social circle. On the night of celebration of Phil’s win Len manipulates Meat (who for some reason does everything that Len wants him to do) into stripping an almost unconscious Phil of his clothes, burying him in sand up to his neck, and forcing him to sit back and watch the tide come in and drown Phil. Fortunately Meat succumbs to his instincts and rescues Phil before the waves take his life. Len, however, purposely swims too far into the ocean, ultimately drowning himself.
As mentioned before, the story unfolds in bits and pieces. At some point you feel the bis are getting along well together while at the other instant, it seems they are not. There are a lot of scenes involving bar shopping and straight-ish male bonding. I am not really sure if actually Australian beach culture (especially life guards) are as homophobic as its shown in the film but none the less the film makes for a thrilling watch. The men are pretty good looking and can also act well. The one big down side of the film for me was the non-linear story telling approach , which takes a while to put pieces together. The three-way balance of this relationship is the film’s most interesting element. Len and Meat’s relationship for example seems to be the only one in the entire film born of an actual friendship and loyalty. I am not sure of the voyeuristic approach to a twisted act of sadism and humiliation was necessary but I guess this is what shows an example of human psyche.
The film could have been lot more powerful but at the end it just ends up being an average satisfying thrill movie experience. (5/10)
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