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...
Mel Daluzyan was, at one time, a national treasure to the people of Armenia when in 2006 he became the first female from the country to win a medal in the World Weightlifting championships. Having been born with higher levels of testosterone than an average woman, Mel had a noted advantage over his competitors. He would continue to see further success until the 2012 Olympics when he was unable to set a total. Mel now has a girlfriend Lili and when the threats become too much in a conservative society, he seeks refuge in Netherlands. As time moves by, Lilit feels the pressure of not only leaving her family and friends, but supporting her boyfriend while the cameras follow her everywhere. When they attend couples therapy, she seems to take it more seriously than Mel. The documentary focuses as much on their relationship as a couple as well. In fact it is mostly about that. In the end we see Mel gets top surgery and after few days of recovery finds courage to start strength training again.
Mel is a love story about a man’s love for his sport and his partner, and the film never settles for an easy solution for either. This documentary doesn't go too deep into what it means being trans, how should they life their life or something else. His trainer and his nation refused to accept it. We see far-right marches for “traditional values”.The difficult decision is made to start a new life in the Netherlands. This is an immigration story, and a sporting story, and partly a love story, though the strains of moving away from your homeland eventually take their toll. As Mel becomes more comfortable in their identity in the Netherlands, his relationship takes on the very different different kinds of traditions of modern masculinity; emotional constipation, women’s agency taking second place to men’s control and ambition. It’s a fascinating dichotomy and Mel’s partner Lilli is in many ways just as interesting a figure, in her roles as therapist, caregiver, and number one fan of a former Armenian hero. I don't know what I was expecting but somehow based on what I had read in the summary of this doc, v/s what I saw, it felt quite underwhelming. The good part if we have seen lots of content on trans women but extremely few on trans men.(4.5/10)
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