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...
Its really hard to make sci-fi genre when you are extremely short on budget, which is a very normal thing for independent LGBTQ stories. Keeping that in mind and being very aware of it, this film still failed to keep my attention focused on what was unfolding in front of my eyes.
A middle aged gay man goes home when his mother dies to arrange the cremation and pack up. Drinking heavily, he stumbles across the time machine he made as a kid and gets inside to take a trip. The machine will not allow travel back in time, but it will allow a look into the future. He sets off himself in the machine and arrives at a time when he meets and falls in love with a much younger, strong-but-silent type, unnamed man. How they meet, and why they connect so quickly, is not explained. During the course of three such trips into the future, the relationship blossoms and then starts to fall apart. At the end, when the loss of power of the time machine means no more trips forward, it's time for him to finish packing up his mother's home and head for whatever the future holds.
The lead actor of the this film is also the writer and director of the film. I can see the intentions being good , but sadly the final product is just not good. Even if you keep the low budget and logic aside, it just doesn't work. The problem I had here was that it was not convincing and of course very amateur. The way it was all put together I couldn't bother about either of the two individuals and where they are headed. Honestly the only thing worth looking for was the handsome young man. Besides that, the whole hogwash about the film showing some deep rooted meaning to life and connection is beyond me. Good for people who actually understood it and were able to sit through the film, but I would not recommend you to waste your time on this. (2.5/10)

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