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...
David, 15 and Jonathan, 17 are boyfriends. On the eve of Christmas Jo says they should break up and explore outside since they are so young. This break up doesn't sit very well with David who goes back to his home, where he lives with his grandmother and make s a shrine in his room for Jonathan. For the next few hours, he initiates an attempt to win him back through desperate text messages and Skype calls. When reuniting seems impossible, he embarks on a mission to broadcast to the world the love that his ex-lover just threw away. We follow David through his trysts of clubs and his obsession leading to a fatal ending for himself.
I am not sure what the point of the whole movie was. The film tries to probe the mind of a teenager who is more comfortable sharing his feelings on social media than real life and whose heart knows boundless passion. I do understand the makers point of view but what comes off on screen is so immature and nothing worth watching. Yes, the story is more than just about obsession but a sadness only a young inexperienced lover knows. David does act alright moving from obsession to his lover to being a very normal docile young boy to his grandmother. He is trying every attempt to win back his boyfriend, but when everything fails, he tries one last ditch attempt to met him in person, and that where tragedy strikes. Films about love and obsession need to be shown with a more mature lens but here what we see is something not fully developed and executed. I wanted to like the film but this one didn't sit well with me at all. You know a movie is a failure when you can't wait for it to end. (3/10)
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