This was the first big Brazilian drama that HBO worked on, and it’s a five-episode miniseries that lasts almost five hours in total. It’s a really emotional and political story set in Rio de Janeiro during the late 1980s, and it does a great job of showing what that era felt like while the country was dealing with the HIV/AIDS crisis. Since the world feels so divided today, the show is a beautiful reminder of how queer people can find power by standing together when things are hard. The story is actually based on real things that happened, specifically about flight attendants who smuggled AIDS medicine from the US into Brazil in the 80s. It works as both a history drama and a strong political message. The show is mostly about three people: Nando, his best friend Lea (they both work as flight attendants for Fly Brasil), and Raul, who is a performer and an activist. A lot of the story happens at a club called Paradise, which was one of the few open gay clubs back in the 80s. Nando is a h...
Night, a senior literature student, was still unable to complete his final novel project because he didn't understand the concept of love. One day when he visits a cafe, he is surprised to find it being run by his school friend Dream. The two were very close as kids and a girl Namwan was also part of their trio, but after Dreams' parents unexpected death, he left town without telling anyone. The three have an interesting reunion and since it has been sometime when they last met, there is an awkwardness too. Night keeps returning to the cafe to be with Dream because they both like each other's company. Dream assumes that Night and Namwan are a couple but Night clears thats not the case and instead kisses Dream. Turns out that the two had kissed back in school as well. Night sincerely hopes that Dream will never disappear from his life again. Afterwards, they meet regularly and rebuild their bond. Somehow Dream is unable to accept the fact that Night is his love. Cowardice kept Night from stepping forward, making him build up an iron wall and deny his feelings. Still, no matter how hard he tried, his feelings for Dream grew stronger by the day. Meanwhile Dream is also struggling to keep his cafe afloat. Enter Day, Nights brother, who also has had some crush on Dream; and for some reason Dream never met this brother when he was young. Some more messiness and confusion occurs and then finally the duo are able to confess their love for one another.
You know, I was even starting to buy into some of this love story between Dream and Night. I was like, let's give them a break, these are young people, still trying to figure out what they want from life etc etc. Also what's up with Night. First he has been playing with Namwan's emotions; then he does something similar to Dream. One minute he is confessing and next minute somehow these two are avoiding each other. At one instance, I was so confused on why are these characters behaving the way they are. Night kisses Dream and next day he straight up goes to girl and confess he likes her because He does not want to disappoint his father. And then the curve of his brother also liking Dream was all but too weird. I am not really sure where this pair was headed, so even though I enjoyed first few episodes, eventually it was just a humdrum of sorts. The only saving grace were the two leads. I enjoy them as a couple whenever the series focuses on their positive interactions. The high school flashbacks and heartfelt chats bring out this pair's gentle charm. However, the love story suffers from too much unpleasant melodrama. The series is overeager to separate the leads with aggravating rivals or needless conflicts. And this just takes away all the fun and niceness of watching this show. This series could have been so much more but leaves the audience and itself short of achieving its potential. (5/10)
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