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Vanilla (UK/Spain)

By Golu
I was really hoping that this film will be good. But as its title suggests, it was so vanilla and I wasn't sure what was it even trying to say. The synopsis says that it is a poignant exploration of gay relationships and infidelity between an interracial gay couple. To an extent yes it is, but the film never gos into the extent of details and everything is touched upon just superficially. I didn't connect with it at all.

Bastien and Matt have ben together for a while, but they have hot a rough patch, since Bastien slept with a woman 8 months back. They are both now visiting Barcelona hoping to mend this rocky relationship. The communication between them seems strained. As Matt grapples with the lingering hurt and its impact on their intimacy, enter British guy Florent, who catches Bastien’s eye and offers top show them around the city. It is obvious that he finds Bastien extremely attractive and given his infidelity before, this just makes Matt more and more angrier. Of course nothing happens but that doesn't stop Bastien and Matt from arguing all the time. Eventually Bastien has had enough and he asks for them to breakup since he hasn't loved Matt for over a year since he finds him 'vanilla' with no interest in art (WTF!). This makes Matt lose his cool and he becomes aggressive and the film just about ends there.

This was really a bizarre film. There was no pint setting it up n Barcelona because we never get to see the city as such. They are mostly in the apartment or at beach or a few streets which could be anywhere in the world. You wonder why are they even together for so long, when clearly they can't even stand each other. They are both a mess: emotionally, physically and sexually. They don't even appreciate each other's professional lives and as an audience you wonder why the hell are they together, if they both have been miserable for so long. The writing was real bad, acting was ok but it is the script and direction that falters big time here. The one good thing was Bastien's hot body which was on display with him just in underwear more than a few times. Emotional turmoil doesn’t discriminate by gender or sexual orientation and this film had the potential to delve into it but sadly it ends up becoming a very boring film by the end of it. (2.5/10)
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