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 set in 3 parts in three time zones, each set apart by 5 years. Its 2006 and the night before a big soccer match. Best friends Jason and Ade are hanging out in the hotel room, each with a dream of making it big and getting chosen by talent scout. They know only one of them can get picked. Wearing only their underwear, there is a healthy banter thats going around between them, including a surprise kiss from Jason to Ade. Five years later, in another hotel room, Jason, now a famous football star and married is seen with a lap dancer. We find out that its all a setup so that a video of him screwing another girl will help squash the rumors of him possibly being gay. We see the insecurity that Jason is in which has come with fame. Circa 5 more years later. Jason is now divorced living his life in a hotel and super hyper. He invites Ade and they get talking. Ade is out and gay and is happy with a boyfriend but both friends have some unspeakable connection with each other. The lengths Jason will go to insult and instigate Ade just to hide his own frustration and anger and inability to live a truthful life becomes evident in this act.
The film although not very long, feels stretched. At least it did to me. The problem was primarily because of it being set up in hotel rooms and mostly driven by dialogues and acting by the lead characters. Which, by the way, was very good. Jason acts really really well to convey his character of a successful soccer star who handles his insecurities by putting up a big, arrogant defensive shield. And then we have Ade, Who I felt, somehow still had feelings for Jason but could not understand why Jason was behaving the way he is in past or present. There is an excellent tension between the two guys in both the first and third act. In the first act, they share a kiss, that comes out of the blue. And a kiss that has ramifications for the two of them, both immediately and in the years that follow; which we get to see in the third act again. There is more than enough sexual tension between the two guys in the two acts with some purposefully erotic moments, but that prevents from viewers like me to have an emotional connect with the characters.
If you wonder, why so few football professional players have ever come out of the closet, this film gives some good insight but as far as entertainment and holding audience attention is concerned, this film leaves a lot to be desired. (5.5/10)
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