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...
The film starts with a young boy and his mother in house. It feels like the mother has some mental issues and in a lot she tries to strangle her son. When the father is back, he does nothing much about it. Circa many years later, The boy is a grown man now. Will is now a potter in an upscale boutique. He is in a committed relationship with Luke, and even with their differences, both young men are virtually certain what they’re feeling for one another is nothing less than love. Will avoids talking about his family, especially mother all the time. He has not mentioned that years ago, his father had committed his mother to a mental asylum. Now Will avoids his mother worried that if he will begin to have similar psychotic episodes. A box of his old stuff from his mother start a series of unexplainable occurrences. Will finds his arms locking up to the point he cannot use them with any consistency. He starts to have visions. He begins to wonder if his mother truly can see into the future and does intimately know about the evils that lurk inside the hearts of men. Most of all, Will begins to question everything about himself, he sees a wolf attack him and all kinds of hallucinations. He goes to three different doctors but all his tests come fine. His partner Luke wants to help, but he doesn't know how to.
The film is an exploration of inherited trauma and unglamorous manifestations of it. Will’s slide into perplexed uncertainty happens very quickly, and his relationship with Luke is outlined in minimalistic brushstrokes. It’s a lot to take in, and honestly, I almost tuned out long before Will begins to make sense of his situation. I understand he has this trauma inside of what happened with his is mother to not creep in his life but how come to medical help could help him diagnose what has issue is? Not even psychiatry or something? His relationship with Luke also feels fragile to me. He keeps so much hidden inside and not tell anything to Luke, so I wonder why is lukewarm with him? We also see how Will’s dad responded often very coldly to his mentally ill wife, and does somewhat with his son, too. While we do witness troublesome events concerning Will’s mother, including quiet violent ones, we also get a sense that Will’s father didn’t do everything he could in the right ways to help her get better. Will continually injures himself due to hallucinations, a symbolism of mental illness. The end was also a bit weird. Is the film saying that Will will now learn or has learnt to live with his mental illness? The subject is important but if you give it a treatment like that which goes over the head for most folks, then what is the point. (Well at least we got to see one sex scene between Luke and Will). (4/10)
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