BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“The best sex is the kind where you forget everything except each other.” – SCOOPWHOOP.com
This is an astonishing very short movie (24 minutes) that captures more in that short period of time than most other BLs do in 12 episodes. It is crisp, exact, intense, erotic, and has a clear message. There is no endless bantering to get to a story. It is there in your face almost immediately. It is not pretentious nor contrived and I think, no I know, it is more real than the contrived exaggerations that are out there now posing as BLs.
Two guys meet on a basketball court. They are instantly attracted to each other. The one named Vic (Trent Chen) who has the body of an Adonis. The other is Xiang (Rosen Tsai) who is incredibly handsome. Xiang hurt his ankle on the court and Vic helps him. And in a way that only gay men can do, they banter about to see how each feel about each other as we already know that they were instantly attracted to each other on the court.
Vic offers Xiang a ride home and along the route Xiang makes the first moves. They lust, they have sex, and they enjoy each other’s company with passion. Their scenes are erotic, sensuous, and are the best representation of gay sex (all acceptable of course) I have seen in a long time. There is no kissing on foreheads or endless staring into eyes. They just do it! And enjoy it! And decide to be together! Awesome and refreshing!
One caveat in this relationship and story is that Xian is a protestor for environmental issues and Vic begs him to not go to the protest as there could be trouble and as a police officer he will be there to enforce the law. And if necessary, will use force. This is a bridge just too far to cross for either one. Xiang says that neither he nor his father ‘gets him’ as this is something that he must do. Both at the beginning and at the end of this brief movie, you see them screaming to each other, crying in the rain, ‘the voice that I can’t hear, is it yours or mine?’ How profound!
The cinematography of this movie is impressive and very sensual. Is it choppy? Yep. Does it always make sense? Nope. It could have been edited better to have a fuller picture. Of course, this is not a lot of dialogue in this snippet. I think or I believe the point to that is – you fill in the blanks! They like, they love, they disagree. In the meantime, they have wild, animalistic sex that is sorely lacking in most BLs. There is a tendency with BLs to forget that a portion of the relationship is sex. This movie not only highlights that, it makes it its center point, and you get to fill in the rest.
What will happen with these two is the bigger question? I honestly do not know. But I think they will be all right. Ironically what little we know about them has a far greater foundation for success than most Pollyanna BLs. We KNOW they love their sex. And they are good at it. I think that will sustain them for a while until other realities really hit them. Call me crazy, but I am optimistic for their success.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the movie? Very easy to decide. Both Trent and Rosen did. Their willingness to be guys lusting after each other, not afraid to show it, and be so real with it was utterly refreshing. They each showed more personality than most BL series do. We do get to know them. They are not fake or pretentious. We know what they want and where they stand. They give us a connection of such intensity that at times it was erotic. For me, there is nothing more beautiful than to see two men physically connect and embrace with each other without being pornographic about it. They did those scenes with ease and obvious comfort which showed the depth of their commitment to their roles and characters and indeed to their craft. Kudos!
This is not going to be a series for everybody. It is not romantic. It does not buildup. There are no longings. It is – see, desire, take, and do. Yes, I do wish this was a bit longer as it is choppy but that does not negate from its impact for me. I hope there is a follow-up. I genuinely want these two to success as they really made me care for them, which is more than I can say in a lot of current BL series. Both had such strong convictions yet love each other deeply enough to protect one another. This is human drama with quite a realistic twist.
Give this one a shot. This is a LGBTQIA+ movie with an emphasis on the +.
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