This is your typical indie coming-of-age tale about a teenager, though it’s clearly working with a very tiny budget. Set within a migrant family living in Southern California’s Coachella Valley, the movie digs into how fragile old-school traditions and expectations can be. We follow a teenage son as he goes through the process of coming out and struggles to find acceptance while dealing with homophobia, domestic abuse, and a messy love triangle that involves his own sister. Goyo is seventeen and just about to graduate from high school. Since he’s been a bit more feminine since he was a little kid, he’s always had to deal with emotional and physical transition from his dad, Ramon, who is obsessed with him being "a man." The only real love he gets is from a lady next door who actually respects him for who he is. The family lives in a Mexican community where everyone works on a grape farm, but things get shaken up when a new guy named Lucio arrives. Lucio basically seduces Goyo ...
The story of this film is actually pretty simple. The main focus in on Toey, a young Thai boy, who has just come to Japan for a solo holiday after a bad breakup with his girlfriend of 5 years. His Japanese friend Yumi helps him with his lodging and is there for him when needed. Toey meets Oat, who is living in the cottage next door, who also happens to be Thai, and is on his finale bachelor trip before he gets married in a few months. The two men start hanging out together and via conversations it comes out that Oat is gay. One thing leads to another and after a drunken shameful night, which Toey regrets, he starts feeling a connection with Oat and clearly romance soon blossoms. Not judging the two men, Yumi tries to be supportive of her friends. Unfortunately, reality soon strikes in. When Yumi announces that she is pregnant, Oat confides in Toey that his girlfriend is also pregnant and that now he feels guilty to have led Toey on. Heartbroken the two men go back home on their individual paths only to very briefly meet at the airport four years later and connect through facebook.
The copy of the film that I had had really bad audio. Not sure, if it just me but because of it focusing on the film was hard. Its heartwarming to see, how the two strangers, traveling alone, becomes friends, start getting comfortable with each other and then also become romantically involved. The film story is simple but is unnecessarily stretched. It can easily be trimmed by 30 minutes. Thankfully the guys act well and Oat is extremely good looking too. They do share a good chemistry. This encounter forms a beautiful relationship between two men, because each has his own trauma. The locations of Japan were really beautiful and you would feel like visiting.
It is a heartwarming journey as we follow the simple pursuit of love. Unfortunately, the very slow pace of the narrative takes away from the high points of the film. (6.5/10)
Comments
A beautiful first chapter.
Natto is often mentioned in mangas as a very particular dish that, when you don't know how to prepare it, tastes absolutely awful. So of course I really wanted to try it, had no clue it had to be cooked in a special way, and ended up absolutely not disapointed by the famous horrible taste lmao.
Still I hope I can taste some properly cooked one day. In all the countries I've been to, Japan came with the most surprising/unexpected meals, often to amazing results.
In addition to your movies recommandations, I'll take your places to visit recommandations as well now lol.