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...
Wyatt, recently broken up with his boyfriend and a financier from New York returns home to Colorado for the holidays in an effort to convince his mother, Deb to sell the family's ranch and the endearing Winter Wonderland attraction. He pretty much left it to his mom to run the place five years ago around the time his father passed away. Meanwhile, Deb has a new guy Heath working on the ranch helping her big time with trying to sustain the tradition. After initial anger, misjudging each other, Heath and Wyatt do fall for each other. But each of them is carrying their own baggage of their past, which is making it harder for both of them to give their 100% to each other. And the fact that Wyatt wants to sell the ranch while Heath wanting to save it any cost is not helping their cause. As you would expect, their romance blossoms, gets a to hurdle when Wyatt has to go back home. But a brilliant idea (was it really?) that Wyatt gets will finally save the ranch. And Maybe it will also make him stay longer in Colorado to work on his love and bring them both together.
Even though the film stays mostly a family affair, we do have the pleasure of seeing both Wyatt and Heath in their tightest of boxer underwear and appreciate their chiseled bodies and good looks. That aside, I did appreciate the fact that both men have some sort of back story of their troubled growing up teen years in a small rural town and that has shaped who they have become as men. Wyatt and Heath actually forge a real, believable connection by sharing their coming out stories—and then the movie tears them apart with a problem that is way more complex than the usual goofy mixups we get in these movies. I am not sure I liked Deb's performance though. Her expressions and reactions , according to me, were way off than whats happening on the screen. She seemed in excruciating physical pain all the time. The film is packed with scenes designed to make your heart melt, specially the homecoming dance date the two main characters go on. The location, the cinematography was very holiday like and makes you get in the mood.
Overall it is a nice gay love drama over the holiday period that unfolds in front of you on the screen. It is a pleasant and heartwarming movie, where the leads manage to sustain the audience's attention for its entire duration. (7/10)
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