Love in Protocol (Korean Mini-Series) - 20264 episodes averaging 10 minutes each. The main character is a researcher conducting a clinical study on human behaviour. He asks deeply personal questions and gets his test subject to open up about himself. These two men have met before. Years earlier, they formed a close bond during their private tutoring sessions. Nothing romantic happened then, but those unresolved feelings have come back. A boring romance with barely any emotion at all, and overall it really has nothing new to offer. Setting a romance within a psychological experiment sounded intriguing, but it ends up being one big yawn. The kissing scene at the end was decent, but the story gives neither actor any chance to show their potential. Awakening the Steppe (Chinese Mini-Series) - 2026Amur, a carefree vet and guesthouse owner living in the grasslands, comes across an injured Singaporean traveler, Lei Ze Xin. Lei Ze Xin is there to fulfill his dad's wish, and Amur saves his life, making it seem like a light, sweet romance might bloom from this unexpected meeting. But actually, he is there to thank Amur because his dog saved his life. While the landscapes are really stunning, their love story appears out of nowhere and is totally unbelievable. The characters are already declaring their love and talking about spending the rest of their lives together, even making plans to open a pet clinic together. The show feels rushed and unrealistic. Apart from the beautiful scenery, there isn’t much that truly stands out or stays with you after finishing…
I put this one off for ages, and honestly, I’m not even sure why. I’d somehow talked myself into thinking it probably wouldn’t connect with my LGBTQ world, but wow, was I wrong. This film totally blindsided me. It’s a smart dark comedy that manages to be properly funny and seriously heavy at exactly the same time, with surprises all the way through. Roman and Dennis are two young strangers who meet at a support group for people who have lost a twin. It’s such a specific, strange kind of grief that only someone who has lived through it could really start to understand. Roman is quiet and physically imposing, and his sudden flashes of rage feel even more disturbing because he is normally so still. Dennis is skinny, openly gay, and armed with sharp self deprecating humour that he uses as a shield. They could not be more different, yet tragedy brings them together, and their connection holds even after Dennis tells Roman he is gay, partly because Roman’s late brother was gay too. The two of them quietly start filling the space left by losing a sibling. Then, around 20 minutes in, the film rewinds and reveals something that changes absolutely everything. Dennis had met Rocky, Roman’s twin, slept with him once, and become completely obsessed. The day he turned up to surprise Rocky was the same day Rocky died in a car accident. Dennis, then, essentially made up a dead twin brother so he could get close to Roman through the support group. Even Dennis is not…
Honestly, this was such a refreshing film. Rather than leaning into the familiar trans victimhood narrative, it goes somewhere much more nuanced and compelling. It unapologetically allows its trans protagonist to inhabit two spaces usually treated as incompatible for trans characters. She pursues her sexual fantasies while also attempting to create the kind of family life trans people have historically been excluded from. The film’s point is basically that identity holds multitudes, and it refuses to confine her within society’s expectations. A girl can have it all, and this film argues that confidently.The main character is a successful, famous trans theatre actress. She’s fierce, highly sexually active, and entirely unapologetic about it. One night, she meets a gay Mexican lawyer who remained in Argentina, let’s be real, for the hot men. They’re strongly attracted to one another and begin a relationship. He meets her family, and before long it’s obvious that having a relationship hasn’t altered her behaviour whatsoever. She continues hooking up with local men on the side, and their relationship is openly defined as just that: open. The film takes a turn when they choose to adopt a child, and near the end we learn that the child is HIV positive. Yet this shift toward domesticity and building a family doesn’t go over well with her trans friends, who think she’s betraying them by trying to slot herself into a conventional life. At the same time, their relationship develops, changes, and endures plenty of highs and lows. There’s a continual clash between convention and her rebellious, free-spirited side.…
Honestly, they should’ve just named this show J&J. The two leads are Jerome and Jinn, and the show itself even calls them by that nickname a few times. Maybe there were title issues, but J&J would’ve suited it so much better. Head 2 Head just sounds a little off. Anyway, it begins like a pretty standard enemies to lovers story, but give it a little time and there’s more happening under the surface. It’s 12 episodes, around 45 minutes each, and overall it’s a decent watch.Jerome and Jinn have lived across from each other since childhood, and they’ve been rivals for just as long. They tease each other, talk each other down, and basically disagree about everything. Even so, they’re in the same friend group, along with Van and Farm. Jerome gets hurt after a car race and begins having visions. He soon realizes they’re always tied to Jinn and the world around him—sometimes comforting, sometimes seriously unsettling. Since he’s injured, both sets of parents decide Jerome should recover at Jinn’s university condo. While he’s busy worrying about Jinn, Jerome starts catching real feelings, and eventually they begin dating. But the visions don’t stop. They show Jinn arguing with his mother, being in an accident and maybe dying, and also the two of them growing apart, though other times they become boyfriends. Jerome gradually shares some of what he’s seen with Jinn, and together they try to change the future by having Jerome stay close, support him, and love him. Alongside that is Van and Farm’s love story. Van is…
You could pretty much describe this as a queer neo-noir erotic thriller about a closeted cop who freely admits he's a sex addict and gradually loses control as the story unfolds. There was a time when sleazy, sweaty, proudly trashy movies like this flourished on dangerous attraction, moral ambiguity, and people making terrible decisions beneath neon lights. This isn't one of them, though, at least not for me. It falls short in a lot of ways and, honestly, never managed to hold my attention. The main problem is that the plot becomes so convoluted and confusing that massive parts of it simply stop making sense. Aiden is a Sydney cop trying his hardest not to masturbate because he's dealing with some kind of sex addiction and has persuaded himself that abstinence makes him physically stronger as well as a better cop. He takes it so seriously that, midway through the movie, he actually buys a chastity cage. He's assigned to a unit policing the queer district, where his lesbian boss tells him to go undercover as a gay man at a gay club because overdose deaths around the area are rising. There he meets Cody, a young twink who works at this shady bar and is controlled by Fat Frankie, a local drug dealer, pimp, crime boss, and drag queen all in one. While still desperately trying to suppress his urges, Aiden begins falling for Cody as he's pulled deeper into the murky, morally gray politics of this entire underworld. The pair start attending various drug fueled parties in an…
Tackling a highly controversial taboo, this German coming of age drama is bound to divide audiences. While it initially presents as a typical teenage romance set in the countryside—complete with bike rides, swimming, and lush cinematography—it executes a twist that fundamentally alters the film's genre. Although it utilizes shock value, I found it difficult to stay engaged throughout the entire runtime due to numerous underdeveloped ideas and loose threads left unresolved. Sebastian leads a fairly standard teenage existence in a small German town, living under the close supervision of his parents and engaging in minor rebellions like sneaking off to drink beers by the lake with friends. He has a girlfriend, though she is clearly more eager to advance the relationship than he is. He is simply a boy attempting to find his place in the world. The status quo is disrupted when his father arrives home with Kolja, a boy who is supposedly the son of an ex-girlfriend from before his marriage and a child Sebastian was meant to be a godfather to. Following an initial period of awkwardness caused by having a stranger in the home, Sebastian begins to experience feelings for Kolja that surpass anything he has felt for anyone else, including his girlfriend. He is unprepared to confront the possibility of being gay, particularly given the treatment of openly gay and trans people in their small town. As their intimacy grows, they discover they are actually biological brothers. This revelation shatters Sebastian's trust in his parents, and the situation spirals once both boys realize they have…
Set in Thailand, To My Shore is a dark and psychologically heavy Chinese BL, though the setting feels almost incidental. It seems the location was chosen primarily to allow a Chinese BL to secure a proper release and reach its target audience, given the strict China laws around homosexuality. Rather than a typical sweet romance, this is a heavy psychological drama following two broken men whose collision is both devastating and moving. It is an emotionally exhausting and complicated journey that teeters on the edge of love and obsession. However, being moving doesn't make it good; the series is average at best because it relies on a repetitive cycle. Furthermore, the show fails to convey how much time passes between events, which feels particularly odd since the leads don't age or change at all despite the implication that years are passing. At fifteen episodes of forty five minutes each, it requires a significant time commitment. The story centers on Fan Xiao and Shu Lang. What initially appears to be a string of coincidences between them is revealed to be anything but random, creating an unsettling sense that their manipulation is almost fated. Fan Xiao is the quintessential toxic top—manipulative, obsessive, and strangely magnetic. He is unpredictable, deceptive, and a truly awful person, with a toxicity rooted in childhood trauma from growing up in a wealthy family where his mother, a mistress, died attempting to save him during a tsunami. Upon meeting Shu Lang, a genuinely kind guy, Fan Xiao decides almost instantly that he must have him at any cost.…
I felt a sense of curiosity after reading a summary about anonymous figures roaming streets in search of hookups, specifically the part where one person slips through a locked city park gate to wander the trails; I expected an erotic mystery to unfold. Instead, that single premise essentially covers the entire runtime. The movie consists of one single night of gay cruising within an amusement park, defined entirely by bodies meeting and exchanged glances. After one guy locks eyes with another on a path, they are soon tangled together amidst the fences and trees. The film moves between roughly fifteen or twenty different men, but with almost nobody speaking a word, the runtime is basically just these guys hooking up and cruising around the park. As expected from the subject matter, the film gets explicit. I found myself wondering—and I am still wondering—if this is intended to be a legitimate art film or actual porn, though I cannot tell you which. There is a sense of sensuality and mystery hanging over the cruising sequences, as if an outsider might crash the scene or someone might get caught at any moment, yet that never happens; it is just pleasure throughout. It functions as an observational piece, with the camera drifting between wider shots and tight close-ups without ever passing judgment, watching everything with discretion and honesty. No one is treated badly here. Strange little connections form, sometimes via sex and sometimes through unexpected conversations. One of the film's best moments involves a detailed retelling of a hookup between two strangers, spoken…
It is hard to recall the last time a Thai BL rom-com brought me this much joy. While I have recently found myself rolling my eyes at the silliness often found in this genre, this particular series really got under my skin in the best possible way. Over ten episodes, with each one running about fifty to fifty five minutes, we witness an ordinary, down to earth guy completely upend the world of a ridiculously wealthy man. This man lives in a total bubble, believing money is the solution to everything and remaining completely disconnected from reality—though he is secretly obsessed with soap operas. When these two people from entirely different worlds collide, the result is a perfect blend of laughter, blushing, and emotional gut punches. Despite his immense wealth, Thee lives alone and manages his family's perfume business. His worldview is challenged when he attempts to use a massive amount of cash to sleep with a model employed by his company, only to be flatly rejected. This encounter brings Peach into the story; a photographer and close friend of that model, Peach serves to show Thee that money cannot buy everything. While Peach is initially intimidated by Thee, he is also stunned by Thee's constant, cheesy, soap opera style manner of speaking. Thee, conversely, finds himself drawn to Peach because he has never encountered anyone who stands up to him or speaks to him quite like Peach does. As they slowly get to know one another, Thee's awkwardness regarding love becomes apparent, as his entire understanding of romance and…
Right now, vertical BLs—mostly originating from the US—are popping up everywhere, and it feels inevitable that AI-generated versions will soon start flooding the market. Until that nightmare becomes a reality, I find myself unable to stop watching these guilty pleasures. Even as I roll my eyes and give them low ratings because they all feel so much the same, I just can't quit them. That is simply my life at this point. The story follows Donovan and Kaden. Kaden is the student body president with a twink-coded aesthetic who is openly gay, while Donovan is the stereotypical straight macho quarterback. Kaden is attracted to Donovan, but he faces bullying and mockery from Donovan, much like the rest of the school. Tensions rise during budget planning after Kaden fails to allocate sufficient funds to the football team, which intensifies the harassment. Following a prank gone wrong, Kaden is punished by being assigned as the water boy for the football team. It is in this role that Donovan begins secretly flirting with him, even though he continues to act as if Kaden doesn't exist in public. They eventually kiss, and Donovan admits he cannot afford to be seen with another man due to the potential impact on his future; however, he does begin intervening to prevent others from bullying Kaden. While Kaden enjoys the attention, he isn't blind to the reality that Donovan will never acknowledge him publicly. After their first night together, they are caught by a girl—the typical evil girlfriend archetype—who blackmails Donovan into pretending to be her boyfriend so…
It is rare for the Thai BL genre to step outside its typical comfort zone, making this unexpected blend of horror, folklore, black magic, and a complete murder mystery a real shock. I was even more surprised by my own response; I found myself totally gripped by the thriller elements, to the point where the BL moments occasionally felt like they were disrupting an otherwise well-constructed and tight mystery. I never imagined I would say that, as I typically find myself complaining when shows of this type lack sufficient romance. Across thirteen episodes of roughly 50 minutes each, every installment feels meaningful and offers something substantial. The series begins with blood and gore and ends with starlight and kisses, with everything in between encompassing suspense, heartbreak, guilt, black magic, the messy reality of not being over an ex, and even a hometown trip with a brand new boyfriend. The series sets its tone right from the start at a crime scene where seven bodies hang from a banyan tree, their eyes and mouths sealed shut and each at a different stage of decomposition. When Inspector Singha and his team arrive, they find only one person at the scene: a commoner named Thup, who serves as both the sole witness and the only suspect. Thup is in a state of near-collapse, terrified because he has been almost fully possessed by ghosts; strangely, these entities only seem to retreat when Singha is near him. After Singha begins questioning him in earnest, he realizes quite rapidly that Thup is not the killer. However,…
Centered on individuals seeking to fulfill their desires through supernatural means, the anthology series MuTeLuv ensures that love intersects with every one of those paths. I am focusing my writing specifically on the two stories featuring gay plotlines, which are the only two within the entire series. This specific narrative spans four episodes, with each one lasting approximately 45 minutes. In the first story, "Hi" By My Luck, we follow Err, a high school kid whose entire identity is built on being the academic golden boy, topping his class and winning olympiads. This status quo is threatened when Mawin transfers in; without even trying, the quiet new student begins to overshadow Err's achievements. Err views him as a dark horse, and the fact that Mawin is effortlessly brilliant drives Err absolutely crazy, even though Mawin is completely unaware of the effect he has. With a major scholarship exam on the horizon that offers the chance to study abroad, Err refuses to let his position slip. After a friend tells him about an app that provides guidance on how to handle various situations, Err begins using it obsessively to figure out how to beat Mawin and perform better. During a training camp with fifteen other students preparing for the scholarship exam, the two boys are placed in the same room. Following the advice of the app's fortune teller, Err tries to do everything possible to get the icy Mawin to warm up to him, and as he follows these instructions to keep the fortune teller happy, the two gradually grow closer…
