Is this technically a gay show? Even after getting through the whole thing, that's still kind of tricky to answer. There's never any physical intimacy shown between the two leads, not even a single kiss. What it gives you instead is something that goes way deeper than that. It traces an emotional bond that spans a full decade between two guys who are both dealing with their own baggage, and what they share basically amounts to being soulmates. The story moves across Japan, South Korea, and Berlin. Honestly, whether people want to call what they have a romantic relationship or not doesn't really matter to me. A relationship doesn't need a label like boyfriends attached to it to actually mean something. And closeness doesn't need to be physical to feel genuine. What this show captures is something quieter but way more powerful, a bond rooted in understanding, respect, and just showing up for each other. Across eight episodes, each running 35 to 45 minutes, this is one...
José and David used to be a couple but then split. 8 years after they first met, they decide to spend together in La Palma island where they met, to see if they can give their relationship another shot. Immediately falling into bed together, José and David naïvely believe that they can rekindle what they once had but a wild few days tests their relationship and stirs up past issues. They meet their lesbian couple friends and it's not too late that the cracks start showing up. You can see the José is desperate to get back together while David is trying to take it as it comes. We see their various shenanigans on the island. Things change with entry of Raul, a confident and handsome sexually fluid party boy. A wild night with Raúl including a threesome leads to some poor drug-induced decision making that turns into jealousy and anger. Somehow this is when it goes onto a whole another trip. Anyway it's hard for José to get over jealousy when he sees David kissing another man. After a series of events, it turns out that David had slept earlier with Raul and that he tried but he doesn't love Jose anymore. This is hard to digest for him, but eventually he has to accept the reality.
The film has an interesting premise but it does go off the rails at many points. It starts focusing in this interesting chemistry of its lead couple and if the story had kept on track, it would have been an excellent film. But then it goes to this trans club, the drugs, the acid trip and the violence and I wasn't sure what the point that the film is trying to make. I guess they wanted to show how small things are thrones that define whether a couple is truly compatible or not, but I dont know. At one point I was like, can we focus back on the main couple and their dynamic please! While the film does make a valid point, and reaches a conclusion that feels inevitable, I would have loved it to dig much deeper into the central couple’s original relationship. We see none of it. It would have given more context to understand why the two men have so much difficulty rekindling their relationship. Also, the way it is shown, José comes off as a free spirit person, very possessive and clearly someone who wants to stick with David all the time. Personally, I find such people full of drama and I would wanna stay away from such folks who are not even ready to give you a breathing space. In fact, it is like he is in form of paranoia all the time. Sadly, the film just doesn't give any such details that could help us understand the psyche of these two individuals better.
On a brighter side, the film is visually stunning. I like the films where the location becomes a character and it literally makes you wanna visit the place asap. La Palma is now added to the list of places I would like to visit in my life. But as a film, it does leave a lot to be desired. Two gorgeous hunky men who are also good actors can only do so much when it's the script that needs some help. Having said that it was refreshing to an attempt to do something different. (5.5/10)
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