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Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
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 ...
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Tesis sobre una domesticación (Spanish) [Thesis on a Domestication]

By Golu
What a refreshing film this was honestly. It completely sidesteps the usual trans victimhood narrative and instead dives into something far more layered and interesting. It boldly lets its trans lead live in two worlds that are usually seen as incompatible for trans characters. She's out there indulging her sexual fantasies while also trying to build the kind of family structure that trans people have historically been shut out of. The film basically says that identity contains multitudes and refuses to be boxed in by what society expects. A girl can have it all and this film makes that case confidently.

The central character is a famous trans theatre actress who is doing very well for herself. She's fierce, sexually very active and makes no apologies for it. One night she meets a gay Mexican lawyer who stayed back in Argentina, let's be honest, because of the hot men. The two are very attracted to each other and start a relationship. He meets her family and it becomes clear pretty quickly that being in a relationship hasn't changed her ways at all. She's still hooking up with local men on the side and the relationship is openly acknowledged as exactly that, open. The film then shifts when the couple decides to adopt a child and towards the end we find out the child is HIV positive. But it's this whole move towards domesticity and starting a family that doesn't sit well with her trans friends at all, who feel like she's betraying them by trying to fit into a conventional life. Meanwhile the relationship between the two of them grows, evolves and goes through its share of ups and downs. There's this constant tug of war between conventionality and her rebellious free spirited nature. For her the lawyer is home, he's her anchor to happiness and safety. But is being with him slowly pulling her further and further away from who she really is? The ending lands uncomfortably when she finds out her son got into a fight at school after another kid found a video of her having sex with someone else.

The film is very fast paced and so much happens across its two hour runtime, with a lot left for the audience to interpret themselves. Like for instance, how does a gay lawyer suddenly fall for a trans woman even though their open relationship still allowed him to be with other men? That kept nagging at me. And honestly I was hoping for a bit more man on man action but the trans actress is really the heart of this story and her choices drive everything. Also interestingly neither of the two leads are given actual names in the film, which I don't think I've ever come across before. The film explores the stigma around AIDS, desire, eroticism and what family can look like for a trans actress trying to make sense of her life. As they move closer to parenthood the strains between them grow and she finds herself torn and desperate, her desires feeling impossible to channel when she's being pulled towards a more domesticated life. The queer couple here refuses to let their relationship become a passionless arrangement and the film is sharp and honest about showing that sexual desire doesn't just switch off because you've settled down. We see the actress having sex with many suitors, some hook ups and some regulars. How I wish we saw more of the husband's actions too. Both actors are absolutely fantastic and the lead is played by a real life trans actress who is completely magnetic.

The ending does feel a bit abrupt and you're left feeling like the film had more to say but stopped short of saying it. It feels like a thesis that doesn't quite go deep enough beyond its own abstractions. But the two leads bring so much fire and passion that they save it from ever becoming a bore. Perfect for festival audiences and anyone who appreciates cinema that genuinely tries something different. (7/10)
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