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...
Charlie is no longer with his boyfriend Chris. He prowls on the streets (either hallucinating or with dreams) of manhattan looking for a man he saw several months earlier. harlie has other encounters with men who care but he finally meets Dean, who is unabashedly racist, sexist and homophobic. Nevertheless, Charlie, pretending to be straight, buys Dean drinks and smokes a joint with him. Dean takes Charlie to a gay cruising area looking for victims, but Charlie is able to warn away the intended target. We soon find out that Dean and his buddies had murdered Chris several months ago in a hate crime and Charlie is here to take revenge. But is this real or still a hallucination? In dreams Charlie tells Chris that he has taken the revenge. Charlie is only finally able to sleep when he realizes that finally Chris' soul will find peace.
Because of the topsy-turvy narrative, the film is volatile and unexpected, which according to me was a huge detriment. The film is supposed to be an ode and study of love and loss but it somehow takes a long time to get there and in the process people like me lose complete interest to even care of what really is going on. There are some good performances delivered by an attractive cast scattered throughout but that doesn't help salvage the film in its completeness. Daniel is sexy and handsome and charming as crazy and one can just watch the film for only his sake, if at all.
It might be just me who hasn't liked this film. I am amazed having read all the glorious reviews all over internet but something failed to connect with me as an audience. I wonder if I was not in the right frame of mind. (4/10)
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