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 ...
32 year old busy banker Roberto has a decent life going with his girlfriend Elia. Roberto is very well dressed, doesn't like clutter, neat freak etc. Things change when he meets a young college going kid Cris through an app. Cris comes over to his house a few times and they talk about multiple things while having drinks (assuming it's a way of Roberto delaying the moment of sex) and Cris making him rethink of his sexuality because maybe he is gay. One weekend when Elia is away, Cris spends the night and Elia shows up unexpected the next day. She doesn't think much but clearly this makes Roberto very uncomfortable with the situation and meanwhile Cris and Elia hit it off really well. An affair of sorts starts between Cris and Roberto, making Roberto very confused. Around same time, Elia proposes for them to move in together and Roberto vehemently disagrees (again likely because he is still exploring or unsure of his sexuality) and then in a bizarre and unexpected end, Roberto proposes to Elia and Cris is shown walking away in sadness.
The film is almost all shot in an apartment, given that it's adapted from a play, barring a few scenes. Interestingly, the way it has been shot to cut between the scenes , it still feels very much like watching a play. The big problem here in the film is completely lack of depth. Cris and Roberto engage in all kinds of meandering conversations and same goes for Ro & Elias' interactions as well. The film is likely trying to delve into profound issues like self-discovery, acceptance, and the struggles faced by LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly in regions dominated by machismo and heteronormative norms. Roberto's crisis does not arise from a sudden discovery, but from the sustained conflict between what he wants, what he feels and what he thinks it should be. It's some level of internalized homophobia, and the challenges of coming out in developing countries. Actors do a decent job. I found the actor playing the lead role particularly handsome. Was there a reason to show almost a 10 year difference between two male leads intentional? Likely so. Maybe the idea is to show difference between them not only poses a generational contrast but also a different relationship with sexual freedom. With its unexpected ending, the film does not propose an answer but a question that crosses an entire generation: to what extent are we free to love if love continues to be conditioned by how we perceive ourselves and how we expect to be perceived? Overall, sadly it was a disappointment. With flat characters, a shallow execution (this would definitely work better in a play format), this ended up being an overall predictable story with very little charm. (4/10)
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