Male Entertainer (2022)

More Than I expected.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but it wasn't what I watched. Overall I really enjoyed this. I felt like they spoke to someone in the industry and just told their story. It was touching and hopefully gives people a new way to look at this industry.
(also, I encourage people to keep in mind that not all hosts who work at bars are escorts and hosts don't usually sleep with their clients.)

Part 1 was informative and gave a lot of baseline information about the people involved. I finished it and was thankful that I waited to watch it until Part 2 was already released so that I could watch straight through.

Part 2 was more emotional and delved deeper into feelings. The ending left me stunned, but at the same time unsurprised. What other choice did he have?

I definitely recommend this, but it's not going to be for everyone. Not everyone enjoys the documentary / mockumentary style or pacing.

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Beautiful and Bleak

This is a beautiful film that doesn't frame anything in black & white. Max isn't a saint in a tough situation, Pan isn't a naive fool, and he lawyer isn't awful, as he may seem at first.

Characters do manufacture self-serving justifications for their actions, but many of them are at the mercy of their circumstances.

There's not much I can say without spoiling, but this is a beauiful film that is quite dark, but with an ember of hope that some of the love we invest in others can bear fruit and make a world of despair bearable.

Klong is fantastic in this, and while his role is small, Prince is quite affecting as a young teen. Tang does a wonderful job playing Pan as a man who sees the world more clearly than it seems and soldiers on anyway.

Highly recommended, but save something fluffy to watch afterward. Try the same director's Country Boy.

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A very serious and somber look into the life of an escort, Max.

This series not be for everyone. It isn't fast paced, it is almost all talking and very little else other than some appropriate background music. It surely isn't a typical BL series, nor is it fluffy or cute in any way, so if that is what you are looking for you should just skip this.

Instead this is a terrific docudrama with some great storytelling about a serious topic. This seems very different from most of Wayufilm's past projects. It is realistic enough feeling that it must be partially if not fully based upon a real story, or at least some inside knowledge.

How can Max have so much unhappiness' and tragedy in his life? He has a brother to support, apparently no education or training, and the only option he has is to be an escort. That brings strife to Max and his brother Min, who hates that Max is an escort. On top of everything Max has had to deal with, there is yet another tragedy in the ending of the series. The ending has a couple twists and turns, I would never have predicted Pan's confession or past. It was quite unexpected, and it explains a lot.

The acting, story. and the production was great. The message and moral of the story is priceless. Klong is going to be a great asset to Wayufilm, he did an outstanding job here. I hope to see him and Prince in some upcoming series.

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A Festival of Plot Twists!

This is a 2-part series that chronicles the story of young Max who finds himself dealt an unkind blow by life. The story itself is not new, but this is a subject we have not seen a lot of in the BL space and that was refreshing, but especially innovative was the filming and storytelling. Shot in documentary style and the cast being interviewed by behind the scene producers was different and this made it captivating. The story was told from ‘first hand experience’ and made it super real. For some, it may even be confusing; is this real or is this a fictional drama?!?

For me, however what blew my mind was how unpredictable the story way and just a myriad of plot twists that came our way in the second part. Proof that you don’t need 16 episodes to captivate an audience or tell a full story that makes total sense.

Would I recommend this series? A resounding yes. Just bring along some Kleenex if you are an empath or prone to tears as this may leave you a little wrecked, but you will not regret watching.

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Simply a Masterpiece

I really hate using the term masterpiece as it is so overused but in this case, it is complete warranted. It is a phenomenal and breathtaking view of the ugly underbelly of the sex trade industry. There is some brilliant and breathtaking acting in this series that had me weeping at times uncontrollable. If you are expecting some banal BL, then move on. This is not it. It is presented as a docudrama and it is so creative. It is scripted but seems so real. This is not for the faint of heart and if you are sensitive, this will be difficult. Another warning: bring lots of tissues. You will need them. I sure did.

You can read my full review of this brilliant series at BLBliss.com

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Worth the watch

As I have enjoyed and supported Wayufilm Productions in the past, I looked forward to this one, featuring Klong in a lead role. Here are my pros and cons:

PROS

KLONG. What a fine actor. He has quite the range.

ATYPICAL BL. Not even a BL and, despite the story being about a male hustler, there are no sex scenes. But the story got its message across without them. I liked it.

THE HOSTESS AT THE BAR. She was an interesting character, I liked her. Her take on how she felt she provided security and stability to sex workers seemed somehow... genuine.

MAX AND PRINCE. Their relationship was heartbreaking but, at the same time, we could understand where both of them were coming from.

CONS

MISCAST. As much as I liked Klong here, it was a little hard for me to believe that he would have that many people (of both sexes) salivating after him for hours every day and night, to the point of offering him more money than most people make. While I appreciate "different strokes for different folks," I didn't buy Klong as being that level of a high class rentboy. (Mon, another Wayufilm actor, might have pulled it off.) And even the horniest of hot, beefy porn stars can't go for hours on end.

HOW MANY DRINKS? So according to Max, he would sometimes consume 50 to 60 drinks a night. Umm... no. He would have ended up dead (or at least in the hospital) long before 50.

ENDING. A bit abrupt. Did they really have to kill him off? I mean sure, it could happen. But it struck me more as a way to get to the end of the story and portray Prince, ironically, as following in his brother's footsteps.

Overall, I liked it. 8.0 from me.

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