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 documentary arrives at essential truths about suffering and loss through abstract means. At a coffee shop, François’s sister relives the day she told her parents about her brother’s death. But the mother corrects her, probably with a hint of bitterness that suggests resentment for not having learned of her son’s death first or, more likely, an attempt to compensate for the fact that she will never know the full extent of what her son suffered during the last five minutes of his life. Once we witness the family's pain, the focus moves to the legal proceedings and the three day trial. The perpetrators were sentenced to 20 and 15 years respectively after recounting of what really happened that night. But the overarching theme is when 6 months after the trial, Francois' parents send an open letter to the youths who murdered their son in which they advise them to move beyond hatred. The camera eavesdrops on discussions between the attorneys, social workers and, most importantly, documents the Chenu family's sorrow and their noble, yet frustrated, attempts to understand how the killers' racist and xenophobic upbringings could result in such pointless, and hate-fueled, violence.
I feel the overarching theme of this documentary was more around tolerance and forgiving rather than sensationalizing. The open letter at the end is a healing act which contains a genuine sense of forgiveness and reconciliation. In a world where hatred and revenge are tolerated, this documentary shows that there is another path that can be taken, one that cherishes and reverences human life no matter what. This documentary is highly recommended for its positive modeling of the spiritual practice of forgiveness. The equanimity with which Francois' family handle the trial and its aftermath offers a heroic example. And thankfully the documentary director also stays away from any kind of sensationalism, which in my opinion is the biggest win of this documentary. The subject needs respect and a dignified approach and the documentary does exactly that putting the case into a wider socio-cultural context. camera eavesdrops on discussions between the attorneys, social workers and, most importantly, documents the Chenu family's sorrow and their noble, yet frustrated, attempts to understand how the killers' racist and xenophobic upbringings could result in such pointless, and hate-fueled, violence. (6/10)
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