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...
We meet Jason, who is struggling to make any difference after the brutal massacre and decides enough is enough. Without political experience, he decides to hold a national rally to demand LGBTQ+ equal rights, fight the NRA, and challenge America’s obsession with gun violence. When people all around the country are also struggling with what and how to do their part, this documentary maker, gathers 9 individuals to make the journey to Washington for this rally. These individuals consisting of gay, trans, latin, black, lesbian, bi, ally share their personal struggles and stories about their surroundings and the system in general about US as a country filled with hate, fear and guns.
I feel bad to say that but when this film started, I was really looking forward to the whole gun violence and LGBt aspect coming together and get an insight into the issue. Instead, a large portion of the film is filled with stories of these 9 individuals. They share their discomfort, nervous outbreaks, friendships, RV breakdowns and even a potential love story; which is all fine, but thats not really what this documentary was supposed to focus on when it started. The film maker says that she wanted to bring awareness to how disproportionately gun violence has affected the less privileged members of LGBTQ+ community, but sadly we get to see very very little of that and that too towards the end of documentary. I felt a bit cheated here. I do understand that making of documentaries is exhausting and challenging to keep a right balance view of entertainment and information, which is done well here, but as I mentioned that I was expecting something very different from this one. Having finished watching this, I did not learn anything new or different from hat I didn't already know about gun laws and gun violence in US. This could have been a HUGE opportunity to make a difference and educate people and tae the next step, but it failed in my opinion. (3/10)
Comments