Honestly I can't believe we're still getting BL series this bad in 2026. This mini series runs about 7 to 8 episodes with a total runtime of just about an hour and it is so boring that I genuinely struggle to find the words. The actors are awkward, the story is as basic as it gets and there is almost nothing about this show worth saving. The makers do try to stir up some drama here and there but even that falls completely flat. Ho Won is a 23 year old university student who spots a man sitting alone at a gay bar and gets attracted to him. The man is Min U, a 33 year old who brushes Ho Won off immediately saying he's too young. Ho Won lies about his age and since he's made a bet with the bartender that he'll get this man home before the night is over, he switches tactics and eventually the two end up at Min U's place and sleep together. Despite being complete opposites in every way there's some kind of pull between them and they go on a couple of dates. But t...
The film starts with how the director over a period of time became supporter of LGBTQ people and decides to make a documentary. He was eventually able to find one person, Kojin, a 23 year old gay friend in Iraqi Kurdistan who as willing to share his experiences. The doc follows Kojin and the maker talking to multiple people in the community including everyone in the directors family, a spiritual healer who can fix any problem, a group of randomly selected men from various social statuses of life of the Kurdish community. The goal of the journey and of the film is to respectfully challenge and ultimately change their beliefs.
The documentary is very successful in shedding light on various aspects of Kurdish people and culture. But you also see how ingrained is hatred for homosexuality combined with religion. It was very unsettling to see that most people would talk about just killing the person if they had anyone in their own family, since it was unacceptable from a religious & social perspective and would bring shame to the society. Presence of Kojin just helps people open up but we never really get to delve deep into Kojin himself. Clearly the way he dresses and with makeup he could easily be a target for bullying. The subject is never touched upon. How does he meet people, since no one is gay in Kurdistan. How has he managed to stay alive in such a homophobic society? How did he eventually reach Poland for political asylum and all that? We never get to see any of those aspects of him. Instead we do get to see the cultural and people perspective of homosexuality, which, not to pull down, was interesting but I expected more. Some of the best parts of the documentary were when we talk and mettle directors family and when the maker himself comes in front of the camera. This was a sincere attempt by him to defend the rights of homosexuals in Kurdish society and bring to light one of the most hidden aspects of the realities of life there. How I wish, this documentary would have served more than just the surface of what we see. Hopefully future is better for kojin and likes of him stuck in that area. (5/10)
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