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 ...
The film is set in 2013 during the Jerry Sandusky trial, who was convicted of several child abuses while he was football coach in Penn State. Ben has finally come out to his mother as bisexual but his days and nights are filled up hook up sex sleeping with anyone and everyone and wherever who catches his eye. One day while browsing books, he meets Sam, a tall handsome black man and Ben feels he can have something more with him. turns out Sam despite being intimate and passionate is not comfortable holding hands in public to show his emotions. He has not come out. We find that in past Ben was shot after a hook up leading to him wear a shot bag outside all the time and he flinches horribly any time there’s an unexpected loud noise. Similarly, Ben grows nauseous and physically ill any time he overhears news of the Jerry Sandusky trial. Turns out he was one of the ids molested. The rest of the film focuses on their relationship each reassuring the other that he supports him, while not being ready to open up himself.
Cicada is an interesting and nuanced drama, examining two men trying to make their way in a society that still nurses prejudice, despite its claims of liberalism and acceptance. the film brings up issues like sex addiction, homophobia, gay and black, childhood trauma, intimacy issues etc., but somewhere i felt i lost the connect with the actors. Sam’s PTSD is entangled in his struggle to reconcile his race with his sexuality, which he keeps concealed from family and colleagues; Ben, though not long out of the closet himself, is impatient and insensitive to these frictions and nuances of identity. The film is a bot artsy and I am not sure of that is everyone's cup of tea or not. Its an important subject for sure but somewhere I felt. the film got a bot self-indulgent. The two actors did a good job but they lacked chemistry between them.
Although the film depicts the obstacles imposed by trauma against love and commitment, and how we must fight it, but somewhere , personally it failed to connect with me and felt really slow. (5.5/10)
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