This Thai film is going for that crime and romance mix inside the BL space, trying to blend coming of age struggles with gritty gang violence thrown in. Honestly, this movie really didn't need to exist. It grabs actors straight out of BL shows that you'll recognize instantly, then tries to drop them into this gritty setting with a story that just doesn't land. Even if there was some kind of heart buried in here somewhere, the way it's actually put together feels pretty amateur. Kheng comes from a rough background and has his heart set on studying in China, so he's grinding hard trying to land a scholarship. We don't get much of his backstory, but he's living with his friend Tai, who I'm pretty sure has feelings for him too, and Tai backs him up in every way he can. One day Kheng witnesses a group of thugs beating up a guy named Boang, who turns out to be a drug dealer, though Kheng has no clue about that at the time. He ends up saving Boang's life an...
Our main guy is Alf, a student from serious money who's just come back to his Catholic all boys school in Mexico after spending a year away at a religious boarding school in the States. Coming back, he realizes his school and his old friend group aren't the same as when he left, they've traded in being precocious kids for chasing girls and getting drunk. Instead, Alf finds himself drawn to Oliver, a new student who plays ukulele and stands out from everyone else, and it's pretty clear Alf's into him. One day the two of them end up hanging out with Oliver's cousin Diana. Alf's caught in the middle, trying to juggle his wealthy, party obsessed friends with his growing connection to Oliver, someone his friends keep throwing slurs at while pushing Alf to stay away from him. Even though nothing's really happened between Alf and Oliver yet, despite both clearly wanting it to, everything shifts on one particular night. The boys get wasted, run into Diana outside of another party, and bring her back to the house. In their drunken state, these privileged kids end up assaulting her, and the next morning, panicking, they accidentally kill her and dump her body. What comes after paints this brutal picture of toxic masculinity, homophobia, and just how far money and power can shield people from consequences. Alf's dad, a high ranking, ambitious politician, steps in and uses his money and connections, but it's really about protecting his own career more than actually helping anyone. There's no happy ending waiting at the end of this one.
This is a layered film that leaves you with a lot to sit with. At the start, Alf's just a typical teenager working through questions about his own sexuality and his pull toward Oliver, and he mentions having been with another guy back in the States, but once he's back in Mexico he gets thrown straight into this male dominated culture soaked in sexism, racism, and homophobia. There's a lot going on underneath the main plot too, the culture inside this Catholic boys school, how women are treated within that world, how much the church shapes these kids' lives, the slow unraveling of Alf's parents' marriage, and just the general struggle of trying to be honest about who you are. The shift from what looks like a gay rom-com into full blown tragedy happens so fast that it genuinely catches you off guard, and that's part of what makes it so uncomfortable to sit through. It leaves you wondering, is Alf a victim here, or is he also guilty. The actor playing Alf is excellent, he manages to hold this balance where you see him simultaneously as a victim, a kid suppressing who he is, and a privileged boy who's probably never going to shake off the emotional weight of what he did. Everyone else in the cast holds their own just as well. All in all, this is a disturbing look at machismo, misogyny, and homophobia that really sticks with you. (7/10)
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