Skip to main content

Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

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 ...

Macho (Spanish)

My first thoughts were that this film was a reverse gay comedy but as the film progressed, I felt that it kept getting more and more confused. Was it a farce, a wannabe comedy, a satire or just a comment on social expectations. What started off initially as fun, the handling of the gay portions of the film felt so regressive, which is completely unacceptable given the film came out in 2016 in Mexico.

Evaristo is a famous fashion designer of women's clothing. Apparently he used his gay-ness o gain more popularity than his actual designs. We soon find out that even though physically he comes out as very effeminate, he is not actually gay. In fact he uses this perception to his advantage to hook up with women. He is getting a documentary done on him to record his creative process. As there are threats to his prospective empire, his partner suggests that he bring a man in his life and hence he forces himself to date the handsome office boy Sandro (a handsome gay man recovering from the loss of his husband's death), so that it could help him squash the rumors of him being a closeted heterosexual. Series of confusions begins, and finally Evaristo is exposed of being straight guy with the pictures of his escapades with one of his favourite models Vivi all over the place. Though Sandro feels cheated, eventually he helps Vivi put up a great show for Evaristo who goes into hiding. All's well that ends well and Evaristo, Sandro and Vivi end up marrying.

Yes, the treatment of the film is as lame as the story is. It is a cheap attempt at camp LGBT comedy which so carelessly exploits gay stereotypes. Moreover it doesn't even help in advocating for a broader inclusion of the same diversity some of its protagonists so desperately want to represent. Its not to say that its homophobic, but its just stupid at so many levels. Why does Evaristo keep going back to Sandro all the time; why do Vivi and Sandro have this sudden connection, how can a famous person like Evaristo get away with pretending to be gay all this while while he has slept with over 300 women in last 2 years. There are many such scenarios that upset me, like Evaristo kicking Sandro for kissing him, or Sandro saying that sexuality is a choice (what?) and more. On a positive note, the film has a very rich and posh look. It looked like money and effort was spent to make this film very chic and fashionable, both in terms of good looking people and sets and clothes etc. Acting wise the lead actor does a great job, but somewhere the story misses the bus.

It is a very light entertainer but nothing that you would wanna go out of your way to watch this. Some of you may even take offense to a lot of things here. Choose wisely. (4.5/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...