I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
Now this one was a really confusing film. The title just fits the film. Not just the characters in the film but to an extent even the audience is left confused. Two years ago, I might have really liked this film but after having watched much better cinema, not any more.
Wiley and Johnny are very good friends. Johnny is a budding musician who thinks he has everything in it to make big. He lives with his girlfriend Annie. Wiley is a confused guy who thinks he probably is gay but has no way to confirm it since he has had never been with either a man or a woman. The three of them hang out very often. Wiley is not very fond of Annie but still manages. Johnny has hired a manager Murray who apparently is handling his record label. Murray keep canceling his appointments with Johnny and Johnny just keeps a blind eye to everything. Meanwhile when girlfriend Annie tries to show Johnny the reality, he snubs and then she just leaves him. Wiley meanwhile is still trying to figure out what he is. Things take a turn and one night Wiley and Johnny end up sleeping together. They both like it but Johnny loves his girlfriend very much. Wiley now starts living in the dreamworld that Johnny loves him and would want to spend his entire life with him. Annie finally finds out about all this. There is a lot of melodrama and they all ultimately decide that they should not see each other for a while. The movie ends up with each one talking gibberish and going to eat something.
Every character in this movie is shown to be living in his/her own world. Both Wiley and Johnny think that they are best in what they do and how they look. They dont want to accept the reality. Its more like they are dumb characters who never grew up and are just trying to manage in this world. Performance wise I did not think anything about anyone in particular. In hindsight, given the premise of the film, each of them did a decent job.
There have been much better movies. (4.5/10)
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