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...
Martin is sent by his father to retrieve some family document from the family of his deceased grandfather on the southern coast. His closest friend Tomaso decides to join him. They stay at their father’s beach house during this cold time. Almost first hour of the film focuses on the boys randomly walking streets of deserted town, killing time, drinking and smoking and finally picking up certain other young girls and a boy for an evening full of drinking. The next day when Martin goes to the family house again for the second time and has made some progress compared to the first visit, is when he asks Tomaso if the guy back at home is his boyfriend? This is the first time the boys openly talk about Tomaso being gay. Tomes tell Martin everything. More conversations follow before what’s expected happens. Both the boys realize that their feelings for each other might have been more than friends and its time to explore each other as lovers.
This film could have been so much better as a short film or something that would focus on something more concrete. Shaky frames, hand-held cameras, awkward pauses, sharp focus on faces, blue sky, aimlessly wandering; all this become a little too much too handle after a while and you wanna scream for the film to move ahead. The performances of the actors of average at the best but in my opinion, there was only so much they could do. The basic fault lies with the director and the script. This experiment is too much of a self-indulgent where the viewers are taken for a joyride without testing or caring for what they would expect.
There are a lot better teenage coming-out stories which keep you interested and you feel for the characters as well. This one unfortunately doesn’t come anywhere closer to anything. (3/10)
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