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 ...
Hank is now taking the week long cruise alone, because his best friend had a last minute family emergency. Aboard, he meets Kurt, vacationing with his wife. Since Kurt's wife is sea-sick, the two men hang out all the time, and there is some connection. At the end of day 1, Kurt ends up in Hank's room and they both have sex. Thankfully, the next morning is not about guilt or snubbing but taking it one day at a time. Hank is not sure, why Kurt os doing this and if he is just a vacation fling. But on the other hand, Hank is also here to get over his ex, but his increasing attraction towards Kurt is something that he really doesn't want to happen. Kurt's wife eventually gets better and join the two of them but still afraid of getting off the ship. This gives the two men enough opportunity to hang out and in fact have a heart to heart conversation. They both like each other and have great chemistry and want more from life. Only if it was that simple. Just when Kurt is starting to make up his mind about leaving his wife, he finds out that she is pregnant. Also we find out that this is not the first time that he is having flings with men and that his wife has always been aware of that. It is decision time and Kurt decides he would change his ways and wants to be a good husband and have a family. Hank respects his decision and they both decide to keep in touch as friends.
To be honest, I was slightly disappointed by the ending. In the long run, I really doubt that Kurt will be able to stay faithful to his wife but who am I to judge. Besides that things about the movie were pretty on and off. Production wise, this film seems to have been shot with a hand held camera or even an iphone over an actual 7 day cruise. If that is in fact true, then I have to say that acting was very very goodby all principal characters but the feeling of watching a film was amiss, which personally bothered me. There were way too many close-ups and the audio was bad but thats understandable given that it was probably shot in sync-sound. The acting was solid and thankfully there were not random side stories to take our attention away from core issue of sex, attraction and finding love in most unexpected situations and places. I wish, Kurt's wife's character was a bot detailed because in all this, she seemed to get a raw deal because you never sympathize with her character which I would have preferred, especially given how the maker wanted to story to end.
Its slow in beginning but eventually picks up. Audio is also an issue. But its not a bad film at all. Keep your expectations low. It's not exactly a feel-good movie, but it does bring to mind differing aspects of gay/bi romances. (6/10)
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