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 ...
Ocho, an Argentinian man, is visiting Barcelona on a holiday from New York. Wandering around town and on the beach, he notices a man. Later, while looking out from his balcony in the evening, he notices this same man strolling on the pavement below and impulsively calls out to him to come and have a drink. His name is Javi. Opposites attract and they hook up, have a great time and Javi asks them to connect again to hang out in evening. They both discuss life over wine and cheese. It turns out that Ocho has been in a relationship for about 20 years now & has recently split and Javi is married to man with a 2 year old daughter and lives in Berlin. Ocho has this nagging feeling that they have met before, which Javi confirms and we go in flashback about 20 years ago. They were both straight, and a girl Sonia was common between them. Ocho's long time friend and Javi was then dating here. One night they both end of up hooking up when they are alone. Those were also the days when Ocho definitely wanted to have kids but Javi didn't. Back to present, it's almost night and Javi wants to leave since he and his husband have certain rules. Ocho is back to being alone, thinking briefly of what life could have been if Javi and Ocho were together and reality is he is by himself in this empty apartment.
The first things that you realize when you watch the film is the amazing chemistry that the leads share with each other. There is passion, comfort and respect and it makes for a perfect pairing between the two. Second thing that you notice is that even when the story goes 20 years back, the leads look exactly the same. It actually bothered me initially because the makers could have probably experimented with hairstyle, beard or something else to show them younger but absolutely no effort was done. In a film, which has quite a bit of minute details, I feel that was probably done on purpose. Maybe, even though on the surface, the two guys haven't changed in 20 years, but philosophically they have both grown up and settled in their own way. Ocho is promiscuous and on Prep hooking up with people on grindr but Ocho will have nothing but safe sex. he is committed to his husband and daughter. The two men have no confrontations. Just talks and reflections on life, what it is and what it could have been, which is interesting but sadly not everyone's cup of tea. I can see some people lose interest. Not me. Another very beautiful thing about this film is the cinematography. The beauty of Barcelona twilight in evening is the perfect background for the pair to sit and relive their past. The film was slightly lengthy but still manages to hold your attention.
In life, you are meant to meet certain people, make some connections and maybe move on. But it's the memories that stay while life and time flies on. Savor it, enjoy it and see what it would be like to fall in love with these characters and maybe think of some of your past fleeting connections. (7/10)
Comments
I like this film but as you mentioned it was wierd that Ocho didn't remember anything about that night, that T-shirt,visiting museum and definitely director have a reason.anyway we can see how their perspective about life have changed.when they say goodbye Ocho feel kine of regretfulness and perhaps doubt that also can be temporary he like transition not arriving