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Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
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 ...
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Darkroom - Tödliche Tropfen (German)

By Golu
The timelines in this film is all over the place. The film constantly moves around between 2201, 2003, 2009 and 2010. Non-linear format is not something new and we have seen it before, but here it just happens every so 5 minutes that after a while, you start questioning that whether this non-linear narration was even necessary. I am guessing this is based on a true story or something but I am not sure. From the subject perspective, the makers definitely had something interesting but the weird execution falters to a large extent.

Lars and Roland are a couple living in Berlin who have been together for over 6 years ago. Film starts with Lars in jail and a case going on him for murder of three young men and attempted murder of two. Through multiple flashbacks, we find out what really happened and also our perspective of what really the truth is. Lars and Roland had met in a small town many years back along two of other Roalnd's friends who are not very friendly with Lars. The couple, now in Berlin, has an open relationship and they have sex with other men. When one of the friends of Roland suddenly disappears from their lives after his boyfriend is diagnosed of cancer, we see how cold-bloodedly Lars kills him. We see two other such incidents. Then through various court proceedings, we also find out how his father was opinionated, how his grandmother was a towering figure making sure Lars doesn't turn out to be gay. But when she finds out the truth of his sexuality, she threatens to cut him of her will. So possibly, Lars killed her also. When the murders are proved, Lars shows absolutely no remorse or guilt. But he keeps telling Roland that he truly loves him making Roland question how he could not have seen that his boyfriend was some sort of a serial killer.

The execution of the film is actually quite messy and the editing is really bad. I am sure the makers didn't have big budget but ample use of bad green screen doesn't help at all. Lars' performance is all over the place. He is good sometimes but there times he is so over the top. Roland thankfully does a better job. Film keeps moving between a love story, a murder mystery, coming out and is not sure what it really wants to be. It thinks that they are trying to portray a neutral viewpoint but clearly it has string opinions. The judges were alll made to look caricatures for some odd reason. The film does not know what it wants to say. The subject could have been far more interesting with decent direction and editing. I think this one can easily be skipped. (3.5/10)
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