This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
Ben and Jim have been childhood friends and neighbors but 8 years back Jim moved to a different won with his dad after his mother died. Now because of covid restrictions, he is coming back to spend some time with is grandma. Ben and Jim had lost touch over the years and its through his best friend Flo that Ben realizes that Jim is quite a popular social media guy. The two boys restart their friendship where they had left off. Ben has always had a crush on Jim. Despite coming out to Jim as gay, their friendship remains pure and fun. Jim's girlfriend Yana also keeps coming to spend time with him making Ben more jealous. When Ben professes his love to Jim, a weird awkwardness happens with two of them. Then there is this courier service guy Olan who keeps hitting on Ben. When he openly professes his love and admiration for Ben, that triggers something in Ben. He tells Ben that he also loves Ben very much and can't be without him, conveniently dropping off his girlfriend Yana. Just when Ben and Jim started to enjoy their courtship, his mom drops a secret about his father that could possibly affect Jim's confidence if he knew the truth. At the same time, his ex boyfriend who was abusive also returns back. Ben decides to breakout with Jim giving him no reason around the same time when Jim publicly confesses his love for Ben. After about 2 weeks Ben realizes his mistake and apologizes to Jim. The couple are back together.
Jim, Jim, Jim.. soooo cute. I thought I have already seen some cute smile in BL boys but Jim takes the cake. The warm welcoming smile that Jim gives every time to Ben just would completely melt my heart. You may disagree but something about him made me melt for him. I so wanted to be Ben. Lol. In contrast Ben's character was a little cute, silly, uncertain and not sure of himself and life. Also if they were such close friends, how come they lost touch in this age of social media. After all Jim was Ben's first love. He is good looking but he had this straight expression throughout the show, its hard to explain. Also, the way where he literally forces Jim to fall for him and then just a few days later drops him was just not done. He comes out as someone who is just using Jim as per his own convenience. I mean, he knows his friend is straight, so making him feel bad for his sexuality was not cool. And similarly, very conveniently Jim just drops his girlfriend. Out of the blue, so random. I was like wtf! I feel bad for Yana. The whole courier Olan situation was just a gimmick in my opinion and why was he always hanging around when Yana needed some consoling. One of my absolute favorite scene was when they had a big evening hangout. Ben's friend Flo is the only one who knows exactly what's going on between the two boys. The situation keeps getting awkward and her expressions were just priceless. I was cracking up. She nailed it. The whole Covid setting was used just for convenience but lacks consistency. They were hardly wearing masks and would just travel anytime anywhere.
Overall, I feel it started off really well but at some point, the makers just wanted to cram too much with exes, an admirer, mental health, family history, career, studies etc etc. By the time it ended, it got just too convenient, cliched, unnecessarily dramatic and it was like what is going on. Can someone make a series where the quintessential gay guy is not trying to convert his straight friend. A straight friend can still be your best friend and not lover. Also, 7 full episodes and we barely even get a kiss in the last scene. Not done. I'd recommend this series for Jim and his friendly chemistry with Ben. Overall, still much better than most series out there. (6.5/10)
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I have just begun "quaranthings" filipino series and I love it so far. I think you should give it a try. I'm only halfway through, but honestly even if the end were to be bad, you won't waste your time: you still get to enjoy the (very very x10) hot body of Rocky :p