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 ...
When old man Walter dies, Birch starts taking care of his home and his leather work in Catskills. Birch is a well-built, handsome bearded mountain man who very much lives off the woods and who specializes in crafting things like leather sandals. Few weeks after his father dies, his son Andy comes down to the summer home with his city queen boyfriend Kyle. Apparently the father-son had a falling out 10 years back when Andy came out and since then they had not been on speaking terms. Birch and Andy were childhood friends who lost touch over the years. Andy still cannot fathom the fact of why would his father let Birch stay at his home and that he was not a good father but Birch continues to champion Walter as a changed person and a good man. While the conflict is on, Kyle is struggling with his career and his job loss and feels that Andy doesn't support him enough. The friends spend time together, despite a major fight between the two and end of spending a night together in the woods ending with them having sex, despite Birch being straight. Clearly they both have feelings for each other and Birch doesn't like labels. Kyle realizes this and decides to go back to the city to figure out his future. Andy stays back in the name of sorting out stuff for his father, but hoping something more concrete will happen between him and Birch.
Unfortunately, we don't know what Birch truly feels for Andy. But Andy clearly loves Birch. I feel that Birch is just going along with the situation. He doesn't even identify as either gay or straight or bisexual. So its hard to say but the two men have amazing chemistry between them. The fact that they both are gorgeous helps a lot. Kyle's character on the other hand is nothing but annoying. Every single scene that he is in, I feel like slapping him. I wonder why Andy is with him. Having said this, the film is not without its share of flaws. Th film is very very slow and is filled with scenes that add nothing to the story. The whole scene of Kyle getting drunk and pouring his heart out about his job is along scene and could have completely been avoided. I wish there was more tension between Birch and Andy. But the way they both get physical was handled with sensitivity. I did like that quite a bit. You feel the tenderness and closeness between the men as if its the most natural thing and this is where the film scores. The ending however is predictable and writing could have been much much better.
The film was just average. Nothing to get excited about, but it won't bore you. Despite the flaws, there was something charming about the film and I attribute mostly to the two good looking actors. (5/10)
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