I honestly think this might be the first time I’ve actually enjoyed a proper horror BL. I’ve checked out a few others in the past, but they usually felt a bit unpolished or amateurish—I can’t even remember their names, to be honest. This one is definitely a slow-burn rather than a fast-paced romance, tucked away inside a world of supernatural mysteries and fantastic secrets. You can tell the production is high-quality and well-researched; it feels like the creators really pushed themselves to give the audience something fresh. If you’re into BLs mixed with suspense and ghost stories, this is right up your alley. Just a heads-up: it’s a massive time investment. There are 12 episodes, each over 75 minutes, and the finale is basically a two-hour movie. The story follows Khem, a young guy in his twenties whose life is getting harder by the second because of a heavy family curse that lets him see ghosts. There’s this terrifying rule in his family where the boys don’t live past age 20, so hi...
Doc is a regular student awaiting graduation, who spends most of his time online either jerking off for his fans or stalking Go (a go-go dancer in NY) because he has huge mancrush on him. One night he drunkenly sends email to Go pretending to make a documentary about the NY club scene and asking if Go wants to be his subject. Surprisingly and to Doc’s horror, Go replies and agrees to be filmed. The movie follows the next three weeks, as Doc tries to make a documentary about Go. They interact in a way that makes viewers feel it more like a documentary. We visit Go’s apartment, we get to know what he lives like, what goes through his mind when he performs and his intimate thoughts and desires. During this, as expected, Go and Doc come closer physically as well and start a relationship. Thankfully, Go knew that this documentary making was all a facade for Doc to get closer to him (which we find out only later in the movie) but it works for the film. Things move on and slowly Doc realizes that there is more from life that he wants. He doesn’t want to be a regular run-of-mill gay man in NYC. Instead he wants to be in country, farm and create his own life. Finally, Doc leaves his shell of online stalking and Go proves to be a lot deeper than the shallow facade he displays.
First things first, the film has only 2 characters and the whole film rests on them being engaging and likable. Thankfully both the actors are amazing in this department and thankfully both of them can also act well. So half the job of the film was done with the absolute right casting that keeps the viewers engaged with their half scripted and half natural dialogues. The film also dissects the gay culture vis-a-vis the conversations that the two have with respect to whats normal, acceptable or radical. Taking in two polar opposite characters, this task becomes easy. Doc is anti-social and feels comfortable in the recluse on his online world in the safety of his room. On the opposite, Go’s character brings certain expectations of who he is, but actually getting to know him is such a sweet surprise. On a flip side, the beginning 30 minutes takes time to like and is a bit slow. And then there are 2 long scenes which just go one forever: one where we watch Go sleeping and the other where Doc and Go are kissing all over NYC.
This is one of those films that seems fairly small and simple on the surface but reveals surprising depths as it unfolds, with interesting characters, some intriguing ideas and plenty of sexiness. (7/10)
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