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Journey With You (Chinese Series)

By Golu
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...
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Devil's Path

By Golu
We should always give credit where its due. There are so many similar themed gay films out there that there story lines keep blending with each other. So in that respect the makers have definitely come up with an interesting novel storyline. Unfortunately, something that looked good on paper loses its steam and feels too stretched at many places.

The title refers to a hidden hiking trail in a wilderness park where gay men often go for cruising. A young man Noah is walking around with tarrot cards and starts following Patrick as soon as he sees him. They strike up a conversation but clearly Patrick is looking for just casual sex. On Noah's insistence, Patrick decides to stay little longer for him but when Noah is attacked from behind after wandering off for a minute and he and Patrick begin fearing for their lives. It seems the only chance for survival is to get back to the main trails and back to their cars. Instead, they spend the day running from the assailants in what turns out to be an ever-expanding piece of forest. The two get to know each other while they are running and we feel a layer of mystery and back story. We find out that Noah is looking for details of mis missing brother Michael who was last seen with Patrick on Devil's Path. Michael and Noah also have some childhood history of abuse and that Noah feels Michael has always been his soulmate.

The story is interesting because as an audience we are looking to understand what really is going on. But at some point things start getting repetitive. Almost half of the film is spent running with minimal dialogues. But on a brighter side, the two lead actors do a very commendable job. They have great chemistry as 2 guys who are on the run and keep audiences hooked but how I wish that was enough. The plot slowly loses direction and i just wanted them to come to the point. Patrick really didn't have to say 100 times that he is scared of dark. And a few such things like inhaler, or Noah's search for his soulmate and all. It got a big yawn from me. The film is more of a psychological thriller but both the reasoning for Noah's behavior and the abrupt ending takes away the fun.

Agreed that this film tries to do something different in this genre but I wish how they had done a better job. (4/10)
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