I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
Joseph is a young naive gay lawyer from Manhattan who has just arrived to `fire Island for the very first time in offseason weekend for personal and romantic exploration. But he is soon drugged and mugged by a would-be hook-up and in his drugged state, it seems like Joseph may have witnessed a murder. He is found by Cameron, a young handsome sympathetic gay man, who's renting a big house along with his best friend Rafael. As Joseph gets to know Cameron and his friends and the two men have a mutual attraction, Rafael comes into picture after having broken up with his boyfriend. The mystery keeps increasing and soon Joseph feels something odd about Rafael and vice versa. Secrets come out when its revealed that Rafael had killed his boyfriend with the help of Cameron. The intent is never clearly explained and in a vague ending, Joseph flees from the house hoping to catch the ferry back to town while the two friends are still alive.
Let's talk about the goods first. The acting and direction if the film is overall pretty good. There is potential there and the film intrigues you in the beginning. Its the screenplay and story thats a bit of a letdown. Cameron's friends were just an unnecessary distraction and the film could have easily done away with all of them. Had the focus been completely on the mystery and thrill element, the film could have been so much better. The story has random disconnected threads that the makers try to connect but by then its a bit late. The vague open ending of the film doesn't help much to the case either. Its not very clear what were Cameron's real feelings for Joseph. Or the fact that whether Cameron and Rafael had some unsettled feelings and issues between themselves. The Fire Island was captured nicely and beautifully and to be honest I actually missed having not visited the island in a long kong time now.
The film had a huge potential but in my opinion, the makers got a little ambitious and tried to include a bunch of randomness. The film is really not bad but its sad when a film which could have been so much more just falls short. Thankfully the duration of the film was just right and wasn't unnecessarily stretched. (5/10)
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