Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

I had been wanting to watch this film ever since I heard about it from its Cannes debut. Sadly I did not get an opportunity to watch it on the big screen, so waiting for it to show up on OTT was the only option. The film may feel like a slice of life gay romance but it's more of a love story of two people who bond during a difficult time. It showcases a tender relationship between two men with simple everyday life events and it is about how two men deal with just being. Being fatherless. Being single. Being uprooted from an earlier state of existence. The film starts in Mumbai with 30 year old Anad's father having just passed away. He, alongwith his mother visit their ancestral village for his father's cremation and the 10 day rituals. We retold Anand was open about his sexuality to his parents, especially after one of his lovers ended up marrying a girl. Now back in his village, his mother reminds him that everyone will talk about him needing to get married so they will ne...

This Korean series is a light hearted and heartfelt story that manages to be both charming and surprisingly relatable. At its core it's about high school teacher meeting his celebrity crush and what happens after, but there is more to the story. The show is 10 episodes of average 25 minutes each. Aejoon is a high school teacher woking on contract. He has been a huge fan of singer Siyeol ever since his music help him uplift from the life's lows. He associates it with motivation and positivity and has now his posters filling his room. But he hides this fanboy side of I'm from colleagues, students for fear of being ridiculed. One day, Aejoon is shocked when Siyeol shows up at his school. Siyeol is filming a new reality show called Go! School Teacher, where he pretends to work on campus. Production teacher wants a real teacher to guide Siyeol and to everyone's surprise Siyeol picks Aejoon. Aejoon feels flustered at the thought of working so closely with his favourite idol. ...

Shine is a period drama set in 1969, starring ‘KinnPorsche’ stars, set against Thailand's political upheaval during those times. To be honest, there is a lot going on in this show, which I will admit that I was not prepared for. Having watched the whole thing. I feel like if I knew what Iw as getting into and paid attention to it in details, this show could have been a great watching experience, but I guess by now I am used to run of the mill BL storylines from Thailand and I was caught off-guard in a negative way. The story was quite complicated and even though the episodes were only 8, almost all of them were 70 minutes or longer with finale being almost 90 minutes, The series follows Trin, an idealistic young professor newly back home from overseas. His idealism is tested as he is drawn into community development initiatives as much as the gritty surroundings of the protest movement amongst students. Determined to contribute to his country without resorting to violence, Trin str...

Apparently this vertical drama got really popular when it was released. Made up of short, mobile-friendly episodes, this show follows Lucas and Prince Nicholas as they move from school rivalry to friendship and then to something far more complicated. The pair navigate their romance amid school life and cultural differences, while trying to keep their connection a secret. The story is simple and straightforward. Prince Nicholas joins college and in a few months he is supposed to be crowned king. As per the queen's instructions he needs to marry Alex who is daughter of a big businessman. Since his arrival is all pomp and show, a guy in college Lucas gets annoyed with this and when he hears about Nicholas' plan about Alex, he decides to step in since Alex is his best friend, The two start ogg on a enemy kind note but as you would expect, one scene after other, they slowly start to feel emotions in each other's presence that they did not expect. Meanwhile press is buzzing with ...

This film is a fictionalized biographical drama inspired by the true story of Miguel de Cervantes’ five-year captivity in Algiers (1575–1580). While based on his real imprisonment, the film takes significant creative liberties, imagining how the author survived and found his voice, rather than strictly documenting historical facts. Even though strictly it is not a queer film at the core of it, but it does have a prominent gay romantic plot depicting a nuanced, "enemies-to-lovers" relationship with the Bey of Algiers. The film is complete with the production and costumed resplendence of a historical epic.  It's the time when Muslim raiders engaged in religious crusading, the seizing of goods and the slave trade, we meet Miguel Cervantes. The young man has just suffered a grave wound that has rendered his left arm mostly useless. The Moors imprison Cervantes with other captive members of the nobility, clergymen, and aristocrats, where they are held for ransom. He alongwith ...

Meeting of two unlikely souls - a critical care doctor who puts his faith in science and skill and In, a guy who reads tarot cards and can sometime see future. Interesting theme but sadly the show remains mostly fluff in all of its 10 episodes each of about 45-50 minutes. I am honestly starting to feel like all these series take a basic concept to make sure that the beginning and ending of the shows feel very different, but all the intermediary episodes are filled with fluff. And the actors might be as cute as they are, but it all fails to hold my attention. In plays a young college grad whose parents died in an accident when he was very young. He has the gift of visions and can read tarot cards. He see the coming death of his best friend's brother Doctor Thap and predicts that someone is out to kill him. He tries to save Thap's life a few times but it's apparent that someone is out to get him. All this is happening while there is a critically injured patient in the hospita...

Dancing and queer, two of my favorite subjects in a film, so naturally I was quite excited about it. This film steps beyond dialogue and places its story squarely on the dance floor, letting desire, rivalry, and vulnerability speak through motion instead of monologue. The film has glitzy cinematography and immaculately choreographed dance sequences and thanks to its wonderful leads and dancers (one of the leads is from Cherry Magic series). However, when it comes time for the emotional climax, the film struggles to convincingly convey the depth of passion between its leads. More on that later. These are the two protagonists - Suzuki Shinya, a fiercely competitive Latin dance champion who thrives on passion and instinct, and Sugiki Shinya, a reserved ballroom dance champion whose entire life is built on discipline and control. Sugiki and his partner, Fusako, have won numerous ballroom competitions in Japan and abroad. Their best achievement is second place at the world championships. Ho...

A surprise federal court ruling in 2013 legalized gay marriage for Utah. This documentary details the unlikely success of activist Mark Lawrence and attorney Peggy Tomsic in overturning Utah's same-sex marriage ban. It highlights the intense conflict between LGBTQ+ rights advocates and the influence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offering a compelling, often raw, look at the legal battle and personal sacrifices involved.  For many people outside of Utah, there is nothing know about the state beyond it being Mormon, let alone the subject matter of the documentary itself. Church and State, however, does an excellent job contextualizing the circumstances that surround the case itself for unaware audience members. From depicting the pervasiveness of the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) to how the state government operates, viewers from outside Utah are able to understand how unexpected this win for marriage was. What is most unique about the documentary is the att...

Yes, one more of those vertical BL shows in which you can find every single cliche that you have likely learned to recognize every. Time you watch such shows. Interestingly there is less OTT reactions in this one and is a pretty straight forward story (if there is such a thing). Avery is getting married and his bride is quite tall. Why is obviously clear to the audience that this bride is actually a man is something that Avery cannot see for some reason and every other character in the show. Anyway, the marriage is supposed to be a contract of sorts from their parents to fulfill so that they can keep their wealth. Their first night they decide they will not get physical but keep up the appearances for the society, and they continue the charade. In the process there is this CEO who starts to like the wife and flirts with her which Avery doesn't like. One drunken night leads to them having sex and next morning the bride's truth comes out and Avery finds out that it is James. Turn...

I remember very well that when season 1 ended I was pissed at how abrupt it was, so in that sense it was nice to see that they came up with a sequel. But honestly, they could just have added 1-2 more episodes in the original season and just finished it off. Making a sequel just for the heck of it was so not necessary. The reasoning and the excuses given are so lame that in today's time they just don't make any sense. More on that later. This season is also 8 episodes of about 8-10 minutes average. Last season ended with Jeong U and Han being a happy couple and suddenly Han's ex showed up. He now wants another chance within despite the nasty breakup they had. Han had not forgiven him and shuts him down immediately. The ex warns him on consequences. He calls Jeong U to trash talk about Han but thankfully Jeong U stands by his boyfriend and they make a plan to go a trip together to get away from all this. But on the day of trip Jeong U doesn't show up. Han is heart broken ...

I had no idea what to expect from the film, but sometimes right frame of mind can make all the difference. The film is a slow, almost meditative narrative that follows the brief but intense relationship between two men in early 1900s. It's a really good story , but an extremely slow pace that dazzles you with visual beauty and striking performances. It's an ode, a love letter to music from those times but more importantly about love that was not meant to be. And with actors like Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor, you know that you are going to get great performances. Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal) has always had a special relationship with music since he was a child, able to feel it, see it, and manipulate it. It was this gift that took him in 1917 from the rural farm in Kentucky where he grew up to the Boston Conservatory to study music. It is here that he came across fellow student and composer, David White (Josh O’Connor). They had an instant bond and also weekly sexual tryst...

For a change, this Thai BL series blends gaming elements with a workplace romance. You like don't wanna think the plot too seriously because the events happening here (romance simulation game) do not make sense to develop a game, but the chemistry is there. As much as I was enjoying the first few episodes, pretty soon it became the run of the mill story with too much fillers just to take the show to 12 episodes. And tell you what, these episodes are like almost an hour each or even longer in certain cases. There are two love stories - one his the main central and like always another one with friends who are common between the two protagonists. Young boy Hill is addicted to a romance simulation game on phone and obsessed with Yuka, the central female character, so when he gets a job in the company who created it, he is very happy. AI generated Yuka has helped Hill get over. A lot of obstacles in life. Yuka gave Hill an emotional intimacy. At work he learns form his boss Junji that Y...

There are many films that have been made in India taking India-Pakistan partition in 1947 as the backdrop. This film falls in the same category. But this one looks less at the atrocities and murders, but a more personal story of two families who destiny got together. In contrast to most films of this genre, the director addresses the less well-known after-effects of partition, particularly focusing on the lives of women and a surprising gay/bisexual relationships and shows how the psychological damage of the time still resounds within the sub-continent today. I am quite surprised that this indie Hindi film was able to show a gay relationship in this manner. Lajma, in present day Pakistan decides to revisit her ancestral home back India after many years (where his uncle and aunt lived). But returning evokes a deluge of memories, and the film then unfolds in a series of flashbacks. We see how Lajma's uncle escaped Pakistan during partition to Delhi and was forced to live alongside a ...

This is a nice little cute and endearing series that just puts a smile on your face. There is nothing earth shattering about it and it simply shows that sometimes it takes a little competition to realize what was right in front of you the entire time. Story is simple about this young cute-sy guy who has not one or two but three suitors and how he needs to figure out who (if any of these) will he go for. 8 episodes each of about 24 minutes, this series could hav been shorter but its ok. Young Yoo Doha is sad after he gets fired from his workplace, but to his surprise his ex-team leader wants to keep in touch with him. But in the very first episode we are told that its not just the old boss thats after his attention but we have also have a charmingly bold cafe barista owner and finally his his gentle but steadfast best friend. Unaware of all the attention he is getting, one night after drinking with his friend, on the way back he sees the other two guys as well and passes out. Next morni...

It's been a while since I saw the season 1 of this series and remember quite enjoying the sassiness of it all. So naturally I was looking forward to season 2, but I have to say that compared to the previous one, this show was largely underwhelming for me. The jokes did not land, the comedy seemed force, and overall something felt amiss. There are a total of 7 episodes (with the first one being more of a special episode that was aired few months back. That was more a pride special, where Cam and his drag-family read for drag queen story hour - but visitors aren't so excited about the idea.  A quick recap. Cam and Greg are a loving coupe who tried a poly relationship with the twink Princeton which did not work out, They have a lesbian neighbor couple, one of whom is close friends with Princeton. Even though things with Princeton did not work out, the couple is still very much open and wants to try threesomes, and each episode sort of focuses the move for that journey. Cam picks u...