This Vietnamese show isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it definitely keeps you hooked. It’s a quick watch with 10 episodes that only last about 15 to 20 minutes each, and even though it uses all the usual BL tropes, it really works because you can't help but root for the underdog. The romance actually takes its time to show up and then wraps up pretty fast, but the characters still feel way more relatable than in a lot of other shows like this. The story follows Phuc, who moves from Hanoi to Saigon to open his dream bar and live with his girlfriend. Things go sideways immediately when he arrives a day early to surprise her and catches her cheating, so he breaks up with her and leaves. He ends up reaching out to his old childhood neighbors, Cong and his sister Han, who he hasn't seen in years. The siblings are struggling on their own with a massive debt and Han’s poor health. Han thinks her brother works at a convenience store, but Cong is actually a heavy for a criminal gro...
Erik and his partner Balazs have been together for 5 years. Erik is a famous radio show host, a gay celebrity who has a lot of credibility in the city and among the gay population. Having lived together so long, Balazs wants them both to get married. But all this is about to change. An accident leads him off the rails; suddenly he starts to throw glances at women, checking out their figure, their ass and their bosom. This is where he meets Linda, a doctor who is looking after him. He finds himself taking sudden interest in her, to the extent of even falling in love with her. He is confused on whats going on with him and how will Balazs react but he can’t help. Erik is scared to hurt anyone so he ends up telling Linda the truth and she breaks up. But when a few days before the wedding, when Balazs finds out the truth of Erik’s infidelity, he is also heart broken and leaves him. This is when Erik decides to take matters in his own hands. He publicly ‘comes out’ that he maybe straight and that he has fallen in love with the one woman Linda. Now he just has to prove his true love for Linda. Of curse, the film has a happy ending.
The film is directed with comical tones, which makes it very watchable. The whole situation where Erik finds himself getting attracted to women, is interesting. I like the instances where we see that Linda actually is like a straight man in her mannerisms and etiquette whereas Erik still has the sophistication of a gay man. In a funny sequence, Erik even points out how Linda is always leading when they dance. My problem with this film was that it had too much focus on Erik. He was pretty much dominant in every single frame, so much that even the relationship between Balazs and him wasn’t explored properly. Ballads seemed like just a pretty piece at his home. There was no real chemistry between them. The side story of homophobic neighbour and press reporter just helped the story to be taken forward. I wish the film explored a little more detailed of Erik’s relationships with both Balazs and Linda rather than just focussing on him as an individual. Acting by everyone is pretty decent and the direction is also quite nice.
Some more modification and detailing could have made this film quite good. It was still quite a decent watch and did evoke a few laughs. (6.5/10)
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