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 ...
Originally from a small town in Tennessee, Jason Potts is now out and proud and lives with his boyfriend in New York. When Jason returns to his hometown due to a family emergency, he quickly learns that not much has changed for the area's LGBT youth. His family insists on him moving back but he tells them since he doesn't think LGBT situation has improved much, he would like to see of the city would allow him to do a gay pride parade in the Main Street. His nemesis from school days is not prominent member of city council and also wants to run for the mayor. Jason thinks that the guy will reject the proposal and he could just go back to NY. But this nemesis along with the church preacher hatch a plan that they could use this opportunity to use the event to identify the community's gays in an effort to round up the gays after the parade and send them off to one of those "camps" that will help relieve them of their sinful ways. Eventually Jason has to start taking things seriously and plan for an event which he has never done before. He does his best and on the day of the vent a very very small number of people do show up for the parade. The preacher and the city council member try to disrupt it but a timely intervention by the mayor saves everyone's face and hopefully make a small difference to the small town's struggling LGBT community.
Honestly, when the film started I was fully expecting a film that is probably full of cliches and would probably have me roll my eyes, but I was actually surprised that this Indi film had a certain charm about it in its simplicity. The comedy although absurd was still funny, specially Jason's mom. Even the city council's character, who is supposed to be evil, the actor playing it does a gd job of keeping it caricaturist so that audience gets entertained completely. Jason and his partner's relationship feels real and supportive of one another and they have good chemistry. The ending felt a bit rushed and slightly disappointing because I was hoping that suddenly a lot of folks would show up for the parade, but they way the director handled is definitely what realistically would happen. The film will probably not help in any meaningful conversations around the struggling community in red Staes like Tennessee but it at least gives them a voice and I think even something like that is important. The film is serious, but it also possesses a gentle and winning sense of humor and humanity with some charming and heart endearing characters, who sometimes may feel over the top, but still relatable in a certain sense of the way. (6/10)
Comments