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 ...
Ale is a transvestite who collects garbage and cardboards in the streets. She lives with fellow outcasts outside town with other people who have been shunned by their family or society for various reasons. They all have found peace with each other. But their existence is in danger when some builder wants to occupy the land that they have built their houses on. One day Ale gets her hands on a diary written by Mia, a woman who dies and has left the diary for her daughter Julia. She watches Julia, who is now a very angry child after her mother's death and her father Manuel. After few days of reading the diary, she feels a connect with Mia and infact starts imagining herself as Mia. Pretty soon, she enters their life and Julia gets an instant liking for her and eventually Manuel also gives in and hires Ale to take care of Julia. Ale's dreams start to come true by her getting acceptance from a normal social family including going for dinner outings. But this is not supposed to last long. Manuel has plans of eventually moving out south to his mother's place. A dark truth that Ale eventually accepts but by the time she reaches back her home, it is also destroyed. In an instant Ale loses everything that she thought she is starting to get acceptance from society for.
As mentioned above, the film has very honest intentions, but the problem is that it never connects with the audience. Some of the scenes seems stretched and I found myself struggling to keep my attention on the film. Ale's aspirations never really touched my heart and connected with me. I liked how Julia respects Ale and so does Manuel but never really it reaches a position where it makes a huge connect with people. I feel had more focus was given to transsexuals and their struggles as social outcasts; it would have made a lot more impact. I liked the film but it never engaged me completely. Actress playing Ale is pretty good but something is missing. She is too timid and slightly uninteresting. Manuel does a great job of a drunk father and so is Julia. I personally enjoyed the character of the gay man who has lost his lover of many years and is now with Ale. The makers tried to balance social issues with a family story.
The film plays safe and hence it never reaches the peak that it could have. It could have been better but ends up being an average film. (5/10)
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