Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

This 4 episode (45 minutes each) mini series is tThe intriguing true story of King Gustaf V, Sweden's first gay king. It looks at the clandestine affair in the 1930s between a Swedish king and a male restaurateur, in a captivating portrayal of love against the odds that uncovers the homophobia and human rights abuses of those times. A love that had to be kept from the public at all costs, but eventually got out, leading to one of the worst miscarriages of justice that Sweden has ever witnessed. The year is 1932, and in a final attempt to save his restaurant, ex-con man Kurt Haijby appeals for a private audience with King Gustav V of Sweden. To his wife Anna’s great surprise, he is granted one. What starts off as a formal encounter between the restaurateur and the King soon turns into a romantic evening filled with passion. But when the fling turns into a secret relationship, the King’s advisors do everything to stop the affair. Haijby is railroaded, repeatedly by Governor Nothin, w...

One of the many problems with this series is that attires to do too many things in little time. It wants to ta all BL tropes and add them all to this series. There is no real character development, shallow characters and motives, total lack of depth and many such. I think had I seen this 4 years ago when it came out, I might have thought of it a little better, but watching it today when there is so much evolution in asian BL, this just comes off as laughable.  A cafe owner has just been dumped by his girlfriend. He passes out but he bumps into this ‘girl’ who helps him get home and they end up having sex. He somehow cannot get her out of his head. The reality is that girl is actually a boy who occasionally dresses as girl to make online content o make extra cash. Incidentally, through his 2 other gay couple friends, he ends up getting a job as a waiter at the same cafe owned by the boss. We discover that this cafe owner is quite ‘lascivious’ and really treats females merely as sexu...

Had I seen this BL back in 2021 when it came out, I might have a slightly more appreciation for the show than what I have right now. And to be honest, as of today, I don't really have much to say about the show. It just made me realize how basic were the stories that were being told in BL context from most Asian countries and makes me appreciate how we have grown both in terms of storytelling and the production efforts that are going in every year to make these stories bigger and better. This series was 6 episodes of about 25-30 minutes each and honestly was all over the place. The basic premise is between Phuc and Tung who share a on-again-off again relationship. Phuc is staying with his cousin in countryside. When Tung visits his parents who are neighbors, they are not home so Tung ends up staying with Phuc. They were likley boyfriends or had feelings before, but Tung is a bit envious and jealous by nature. He once saw Phuc hugging another boy, who was Tung's brother and sinc...

I somehow missed the fact that that season 2 of this rockumentary style show came back in 2021 and I only just now go try hands on it. I remember liking the short 10 minute skits about the doctors dealing with STIs in a Melbourne sexual health clinic, educating the general public at the same time. It's really hard to make a subject like this funny, entertaining yet educational. Season 2 continues from where it was left off with 6 episodes of about 25 - 30 minutes each, but this time rather than focussing specifically on the STIs itself, the show focuses on the characters, their growth, their insecurities while still keeping tabs on their patients's sexual health and awareness. In summary, Sexual health doctors Langdon Marsh and Steph Huddleston must do whatever they can to prove their worth and save their clinic – all during a sudden outbreak of sexually transmitted infections in Melbourne. A hilarious and heartfelt comedy series, ‘Metro Sexual’ is Australia’s first sitcom led ...

Oh my god! What the hell was this? A 6 part series of about 10-15 minutes each, this one was supposed to be likely a sexy/supernatural genre; but all it ended up being was something so embarrassing to watch. I wont even say it was comedy because that was unintentional and the only reason you laugh is at the absurdity of it all and the audacity of people to make something like this. Although, in fairness this was back in 2021, post covid where folks were just about doing anything to keep content consumers busy. The story of a fairy who loved a man who he thought cheated on him so he retaliated and turned the cheater and his boyfriend into sex slaves. Eventually, he discovered the secret of the one who cheated on him. I am not even sure how this all plays out. We see two boys on top of a hill but they cannot remember each other. The evil spirit keeps kidnapping one of them and has their way with him and then neither remembers anything. Suddenly we have a threesome going on in a resort, w...

Catching up on my BL shows from my backlog. I stumbled upon this Pinoy BL series from 2021, peak covid days, when a lot of folks were dabbling into content creation with the rise of BL viewership. This series was only 5 episodes of about 14 minutes each, with the last one being almost double (might as well have made it 6 episodes). Anyway, the plot is really paper thin. It is a story if love and loss and one couples snapshot of dealing with covid times. Set in rural province of Philippines, we meet a young gay couple who are making ends meet. They have lost their jobs and with minimum savings, they moved to countryside while covid cases everywhere are rising. They both take good care of each other cooking, cleaning etc while also hoping that the virus doesn't catch them. Apparently Dandansoy is a song by some singer which happens to be a favorite of one of the boys. One day this guys starts to feel covid symptoms. It starts with loss of taste and smell, followed by cough. As best a...

I saw the film "More Than Only" almost 5 years back and honestly I even forgot about it. Had to go and re-read my review about the beautiful film I saw. When I got my hands on this short film series, I did not realize that the makers have continued to series to show us what the lives of Michael and Justin has turned up to me after the film ended (which was they got married and had a surrogate daughter with their best friend Brooke). There are three seasons and I will maybe review them separately. This first season is 3 episodes of about 30 minutes each. Michael and Justin are a happy couple and living with their almost teenage daughter. Their friend and the surrogate mother Brooke is still very much a part of their life. The series begins with Michael's parents visiting the couple to spend a day. Given Justin's really bad experience in childhood and his parents reactions, he is always nervous of this visit and always tries to go out of his way to impress his in-laws b...

I can't even begin to write how awful this mini series is. The story is so paper thin that it could have easily been told in less than 10 minutes. But these folks take 6 episodes of 25 minutes each, with long silences and scenery and flashbacks, just to extend the time. Agreed, this was likely made on phone on super low budget, but still. And then there are people like me, who are actually watching shit like this and continue to ask myself on why am I wasting my time. I think, I need a life. Simple story. Two friends Efres and Carlos are best buddies are in love with one another madly but neither has the courage to tell the other person. They both fear that they will lose friendship. Enter third guy Zander who likes Efres and has told him a few times that he likes him, but Efres makes it very clear he has feelings only for Carlos. One day Carlos sees Efres and Zander spending time and Zander's meek attempt to kiss Efres, it makes him angry and he decides too leave town thinking...

This is yet another 6 part mini-series from the stable of Philippines. The episodes are about 15-20 minutes each but thankfully the production and quality and story and message this series is trying to convey is much better than some of the other rural Filipino productions that I have seen, especially the ones that were conceived and released during COVID. I am still catching up on a lot of backlog that I have from those times. At the core this is yet another BL of two young boys, but it also subtly touches upon social issues like sexual abuse, mental health problems, divorce, gender discrimination, bullying, childhood trauma, sexuality, trans etc. The location is in a remote Filipino province. Kai, a young boy and hi smother take care of a huge manor house. Enter Andre, a rude , rich, spoilt brat who is sent by his father to spend sometime there since he has had enough of his self-indulgence. The time is just when covid is picking up everywhere. As expected he treats Kai very condesce...

I must have missed watching this during cove times for some reason. And now when I watched this now, it feels so laughable to be honest. This is obviously a low-budget production that looks like it was sort of thrown together. The production frankly is just awful, and editing made it hard to follow the story. They certainly packed a lot in this short series like love, homophobia, trans rights, rich exploiting poor, made up friends etc etc. The show has 8 episodes of about 20 min each average. We have three main characters in the show - Nico, Prince and Julius. The series starts with Nico saving Julius in a motorbike accident. In a drunken state, Julius kisses Nico. Few months later, we now see that Nico actually moved to this place from his province and he left his younger brother to fend for himself after his parents died. Prince is his neighbor, who one days saves Nico when some local goons are trying to rob him. Two lonely individuals become good friends taking care of one another. ...

This film was much fun to watch. An ode to a lot of Hollywood action cop buddy movies with a gay twist is how this film can be best described. Of course, you need to remember to not take this film seriously. It's a spoof, and a parody of sorts of all the films in this genre. It is not even close to a perfect movie, but it manages to be a whole lot of fun for those in the mood for an action comedy. And I sure enjoyed it. Detective Bussi is Iceland’s most famous and toughest cop in leather jacket with glasses bashing bad guys. He is trigger-happy, he is a brat, always angry and he has no respect for the rules. He’s a loose cannon but he gets results. Enter Hörður. He is the cop from neighboring town, very tough, a dapper, muscular, pansexual former model. There have been a series of bank robberies and no money stolen and police is perplexed. Man behind these robberies is Rikki, who it turns out used to model with Hoarder but quit after an accident. The police department makes the two...

This was such a pointless series and a show that need not exist in the first place. With low production quality, the acting is non-existent, the plot is pedestrian, the whole thing is filmed on an iPhone, the editing is incompetent, the sound is poor, and there's no ending. It just... stops. The show thankfully is just 4 episodes of about 40 minutes each, so the torture doesn't stay long for you. Nut works at a small advertising agency. His colleagues and grinds are a girl So, a guy named Mick, who he has been friends with for 6 years. Mick has a secret crush on Nut. Nut's feelings for Mick are unclear to us. For a new competition, the Boss hires his relative/consultant to work with this team so they can potentially win the award which will be bog for the company. Apparently Guy had seen one of Nut's previous work called "Loveless Society" and was quite inspired by the creator and that is why he also wanted to work with Nut on this collaboration. Guy does come...

This 10 episode Vietnamese gay family series is actually quite fun to watch. It feels like this show is a sequel of sorts to Tien Bromance, a very confused show 2020. Its got same characters, actors and extended storyline, but so much better than the original one. The episodes are about 18-20 minutes each. And the show primarily shows us everyday joys and trials of a gay couple navigating through life and raising their young child. We meet Tai and Tien again who are now living in a suburban home with their 6-7 year old son. Tien still works in some sort of gang/mafia and Tai is a teacher. There is really not much of a story here. We see multiple issues that these young parents try to navigate e through, while also making sure their relationship and love still stays strong. We see how they both care about their son, there are some funny situations when they both have trust issues, the way Tai treats the mafia gang members when they come (like a jealous housewife), the occasional baby si...

This Canadian documentary is about a Gay Asylum Seeker’s Struggle for Freedom and Survival. But more than that it is also about the group of these people who come together to help and support this man to settle down in a new city and new country. When 11 strangers from Vancouver’s LGBTQ+ come together to sponsor a queer refugee from Uganda fleeing persecution, they have nothing but the best of intentions. Together, they embark on a year-long quest for personal freedom, revealing how in a world where one must constantly fight for the right to exist, survival itself becomes a victory. What we see here is how it all plays out eventually. Canada is the only country that has a refugee program aimed specifically at LGBTQ persons facing persecution in their home country. The Vancouver-based non-profit Refugee Rainbow privately sponsors refugees under this program. For a new such refugee, a group of 11 people come together to form a 'circle' who will help support the refugee for one ye...

Its interesting that despite the fact that this show came during covid times, it tries its best to not have the subject of covid include in it an drive us something extra. Sadly, this 6 episode mini-series of 20 minutes each might have worked then, because we were all starving for content, but seeing it now feels like a stretch and something that we could have lived without. Except that its two leads are extremely good looking and I cant remember if I have seen them in other shows. I need to do more research. We have three main characters here. A girl named Heart has just been dumped by her boyfriend and she goes live during her heart out. Her best friend, the hot and happening Winston, who happens to be a content creator and vlogger decides to try and help his friend by looking for her a date that could mend her heart. Enter Jamie, a hot singer, who has been following Winston on social media. He applies for possibility to date Heart. Because of his good looks Win chooses Jamie to spen...

Why o why was this film made? With a running length of almost 2.5 hours, the only thought that comes to mind after having finished watching the film is WTF!! Not only was the story problematic , but worse was the execution of the film. The makers probably have never heard of the role of an editor. So many scenes would just go on and on forever, really really testing patience of the audience. No wonder it Tok me a few years to even find this film since it was released and having seen it now, I would loudly scream to not waste your time. A simple young man Liam works in a hotel and the setting is during covid. A rich man Harry comes to stay at the hotel for a week and their first meeting does not go well. Harry is angry and Liam is clumsy, but. Turns out that's because Liam is enamored by how handsome Harry is. Anyway, they eventually become friends and one night while hanging out Harry tells Liam how he is super rich but after his parents separation neither wants them, so they keep ...

I knew exactly what I am getting into for season 2, having just finished the first season. We have almost all of the characters from first season reprise their role in this weird continuation of the story of So, one of the most unlikeable protagonists in BL world IMO. Anyway, more about the story ahead but yeah the weirdness and absurdity of the whole thing has not gone away. In fact the season ends in a lurch with a threat of a season 3. God save us. For now this season has 10 episodes of average 20 minutes. The first season ended with So's ex-boyfriend Pablo return to him. Having learned no lessons from the past, So falls in love again with Pablo knowing very well that Pablo will oscillate between him and his girlfriend. So also ends up meeting the real Pre, who lives in the same building whose picture was being used by the poser in first season, whose real name is Cruz. Turns out Cruz and Pre are step brothers and Cruz shows up asking for forgiveness, but So is very upset and ma...

It is a waste of time just even writing a review of this extremely low production Filipino BL series. Clocking at 8 episodes of average 20 minutes each, it is not too much of a commitment, plus there is so much unnecessary fluff in the whole show that you can easily fast forward half of it. Now I am actually dreading watching season 2 of the show soon after. Our main protagonist is called 'So' on his Grindr nickname "So Lonely". He has recently broken up with his boyfriend Pablo, who told him that he has a girlfriend and would rather be with her. Extremely dramatic and heartbroken he wants to end his life but his straight best friend puts sense into him and asks him to move on using Grindr. There he meets a guy named Preston (Pre). He refuses to share details about himself, but had his pic on Grindr and the duo start chatting on phone everyday. So tell shim his whole story and Pre helps him to get out of his previous love and move on. In the process So starts falling ...

Somehow I just know that this series from Here TV is going to be just bad. In they hope to keep suspense and thrills, the way the screenplay is written is nothing but a mess. To a dd to it, the editing of the show is on o of the worse that I have seen in recent times. This is yet another addition to the list of decent stories executed really bad in the name of entertainment. In the six episodes of this show, each of average 10 minutes, almost 2 minutes goes into recap and in almost every episode scenes from previous episodes gets repeated at least a couple of times in the name of flashbacks. We are told that Pastor Eddie and his husband Quentin had some argument when the Pastor was exposed to be having an affair because of which Q burned down his church. But months after they decided to reconcile and move on. The show starts with their first day having moved into their new house. But it feels like there is a stranger who keeps locking doors or knocking on the door, making both of them ...

One more of those Filipino series that were probably made right when the BL content is Asian countries was starting to pickup big time during the covid crisis. It is an extremely basic and simple story with a very confused ending that didn't make any sense at all. Anyway, there are totally 8 episodes of about 13-15 minutes each. Andrei has just broken up with his girlfriend is taking a trip an island. In the journey he meets Sam, who turns out also just broke up with his boyfriend. Surprisingly his ex-boyfriend also shows up at the island annoying Sam very much especially since he cheated on Sam multiple times and there is no way Sam will take him back. Sam and Andrei get rooms next to each other and strike a friendship. Turns out Andrei's girlfriend was trans and he considers himself bisexual but is not ready to come out. They both start hanging out as friends and at some point feelings start to develop. One night Sam confesses his love to Andrei but he is still confused about...