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...
Matthew and Brandon are best friends and form a part of trio. They are all teenagers. When Brandon discovers a gay magazine in Matthew's room, they both come out to each other and confess their love. Unfortunately, Matthew's father sees them together and forcibly sends him to a mental institution. A few years later both the boys are sent to gay conversion camp, where they try to obey the rules as much as they can. When the camp ends, Brandon decides that he cannot pretend anymore and is thrown out of home by his mother. He is 18 now but Matthew is still few weeks short of 18. Despite this he also decides to leave home to be with Brandon. After being homeless for a few days and being very sure that they are not going to hustle in a gay bar, they meet an older man Tommy who gives them shelter and food at his home expecting nothing in return. Eventually Brandon gets a job at the bar and enrolls in college and Matthew starts training at Tommy's saloon. The film ends on a sweet note where Brandon proposes to Matthew for marriage and to be together always.
As mentioned, this film was shot at a very low budget but thats the least of my issues with the film. A lot of time transitions in the film are shown through animation and musical numbers which test your patience. I was just rolling my eyes and fast forwarding the movie to reach to some meaningful point in the film. Each and every dialogue was unnecessarily stretched. The unnecessary long musical numbers were getting on my nerves. The acting was below par but that I blame on the director. I feel the boys had potential. The way the dialogues were being said felt as if some reading session was taking place. Also, a film that on one hand is trying to give a message about coming out and still being a true christian had these out of nowhere sexual dialogues between the two boys which felt totally out of place.
The film needs some serious editing and cut it short to 30 minutes and it would be barely watchable then. Till then, it is completely avoidable, unless you are bored out of your mind and have nothing better to do. (2.5/10)
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