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 ...
Renata is a trans woman, who has lost her job but not told her parents. She is on a week long vacation with her parents and sister. She is a person of few words, and ducks behind doors and absconds to the lake to vape and contemplate, her chin resting on her knees; her body curled into itself, a protective stance against the world. We never really get know what's really happening in her head. And the whole movie is just about a family of four bickering and fighting about petty things. More explosive confrontations will happen too, as the vacation hours stretch into days and the cottage starts to feel claustrophobic. The mother is always complaining to either daughters or husband. The husband is quite type who just listens to everything. The sisters confrontations are vicious exchanges of harsh sentiments, followed by moments of loving intimacy. The premise is neat needing to tell her parents she left the job and thats it.
Is Renata depressed? How introspective is she? It's hard to tell because the screenplay doesn't do an adequate job of providing a window into her heart, mind and soul. There's not enough comic relief, surprises or memorable scenes; and after a while I was asking myself why am I watching this film of a family on a holiday? Ren and her family don’t bicker about her transition — that aspect of her life is accepted, received with warmth and occasionally clumsy care. Their fights are familiar to small families with grown children and aging parents. Yes, the performances are good and the actress playing the lead is remarkable, but what do I do with that, when the story itself doesn't exist? What is it really that the film is trying to say here? I am really struggling to understand why critics are going gaga over this film, (but then of late I am finding myself keeping my distance form films that critics love, recent Oscar winners being an example). I understand that this has been made by a trans film maker, loosely inspiring events from her own life, but just this fact doesn't make a film good. For now, for me, this film is just shallow and underwhelming. It's just as bland as its title. (1.5/10)
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