If you feel guilty for enjoying this movie, you are in good company.

Extreme Spoilers ahead......




.....I had skipped over this movie for months because it sounded...meh...but I was told that if I were rooting for Pete and Vegas by the end of KinnPorshe, I would probably like this one. I spent the first 30 minutes not knowing what to think or feel about the storyline and the characters because the story was dark and drenched in emotional trauma, sexual and psychological torture, suicide, and hopelessness.

It starts with a naked man bound on a bed in a stereotypical psychological thriller-style room. His kidnapper walks in as he tries to figure out what is going on and how he got there. The following 30 minutes are spent with him being raped using various sexual devices by the man holding him there. It's pretty confusing, and you will probably be wondering why you are still watching it (it's because the acting really draws you in), but then all the pieces start coming together during the last half hour.

Both men are entirely broken were committing suicide. The one held captive by jumping off the top of a building, and the captor by overdosing on fentanyl. It turns out that the captive lost his parent in a car accident and blames himself because he sent them on their trip and was busy having sex with the girl who later left him when he was supposed to pick his parents back up from the airport. They took a taxi and were both killed on the way home. The captor is a surgeon who is very happy with his life, where he is usually able to save the lives of so many. Still, he doesn't notice that his boyfriend is becoming more broken by the day as he works in a hospice and is constantly surrounded by deaths he can do nothing about. The captor's bf ends up committing suicide by overdosing on fentanyl, and this destroys the captor, who is constantly being haunted by visions of his lost love.

When he sees the man he kidnaps going up to the roof to jump, he has encountered him twice, first outside the morgue and again in the cemetery. Seeing him the third time and knowing what he is about to do (what they are both about to do), he decides that fate has sent them to save each other through suffering and torment as a way to want to live again. Stockholm syndrome ensues, and the captive becomes attached to his captor emotionally and mentally despite having just been raped by the man while he was having a psychotic break, complete with visions of his dead bf. The next day he lets his prisoner go, leaving clothes for him, removing his shackles, and leaving all of the doors unlocked.

He's been in the basement of the hospital the whole time. When he spots the kidnapper in the hospital, he seems a bit shaken to realize the man is a doctor, and he can't understand why he has been released. By now, he is attached enough to feel like he is being abandoned by the only reason he still has to live, the doctor. The doctor heads up to the roof, and the now-free man follows. The doctor takes him to eat and then to the cemetery to visit his parent's graves. During this time, the doctor explains everything that has happened and tells him he is free. They part ways, and the doctor stops at a lonely beach made more depressing by the overcast day and darkness of the water. He is about to take the fentanyl when he sees his boyfriend's ghost standing out in the water. He runs into the waves and tries to reach him, but, of course, the bf is never there, and he becomes even more hopeless...if you want to know the rest, you should really watch it.

Overall, as I said, I felt guilty for liking it so much, but the guilt didn't stop me from watching it two more times...and I'm sure I'll watch it again. I am drawn to fictional tragedies like a moth to a flame. I can't even remember how many times I've watched KinnPorsche. So, if graphic abusive sexual content doesn't bother you and you also found yourself rooting for Pete and Vegas, you'll probably like this too, and it's totally okay to enjoy Dangerous Drugs of Sex.

At this point the only complaints I have are:
1) that others get really judgy if you tell them you liked it and not only finished it but watched it more than once
2) that neither main character has been the main character in much of anything else. Their acting was absolutely phenomenal, especially considering the storyline.

:) Happy Viewing!

Citeste mai mult

This has been my favorite BL drama and one of my top 5 dramas overall of 2023 so far!

If you like BLs, which make you smile, and you can care about the characters in them, then this is a great one for 2023, and it has adults, not high school or college students.

One bone to pick, though...the characterization of "Won Young tries to curry favor by tracking down the chairman's favorite artist" is super inaccurate. He locates him entirely by accident after breaking a plate his vacation host had purchased from the artist. He doesn't even recognize him at first.

Now, on to my early review :)

It doesn't have the heat of a series like Bed Friends (at least not yet, but I don't expect it to develop into that either). It's a slow burn but a really sweet storyline compared to others, and I have totally fallen for the main characters and even care about what happens with the relationship between the two supporting characters. It just started, and I have been eagerly waiting for the next two episodes to be released on iQIYI later today.

I'm fairly picky and often find myself much more drawn to Thai BL selections, but I have watched the 4 episodes available so far a total of 7 times in sequence.

The actors are awesome, and the balance between cute, sweet, serious, and dramatic interactions and solo screenwork is delightful. I find the locations used in filming beautiful in their simplicity and very calming. This is not an edge-of-your-seat Kinn Porshe-style drama or a crush-your-heart-into-pieces Until We Meet Again-style drama. It's just a feel-good value of a simple accidental love story with some CEO-driven, get-my-job-back manipulation coming from a character that is a genuinely good (maybe a bit dim) person and his slowly developing feelings for the man he is trying to kind of manipulate/spy on, get close to. Even so, I expect the revelation scenario to be a hiccup at best.

I suffer from high anxiety and depression, and I love the boost of serotonin and the feeling of calm happiness that comes with each new episode and rewatching of old episodes. This show is currently one of the most effective happy places for me, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Final note: I also really love the Fallen For U ost.

Citeste mai mult

Perfect storytelling!

Marriages of convenience are very common, and that's precisely what this type of marriage is. Two homosexual people who have been friends for at least a decade get married to each other to please their parents by providing a heteronormative family union that is socially acceptable and will allow both families to save face.

I am the product of such a union, so I may have more of a soft spot for this storyline than many.

For me, this story seems very well-written and pretty realistic. Bravo, Mame, the director, and all four leads!!!

While many may see Lom and Yiwa's legal union as a "fake" marriage, this type of marriage is very real. Marriage across most cultures (including Christianity) has been primarily and was originally a way of uniting families under the law, thus guaranteeing mutual benefits. It is/was a way of consolidating power, wealth, and property, building alliances, ensuring the continuation or perceived enhancement of bloodlines, improving or maintaining social status, and ensuring rights to national/local/international marriage-specific benefits. These reasons are also central to why family and society push many singles or dating couples toward marriage. This story tracks perfectly with this reality.

Marriages of convenience for people like Lom and Yiwa tend to start falling apart under scrutiny as more social norms are stacked onto the simple union, such as the expectations of moving into a situation (often the husband's familial home) where the union will be closely monitored, producing children, and shows of physical affection.

So far, I love the pacing of both the evolving love story and the revelation of the family dynamics at the heart of this story's conflict.

maybe spoiler-ish:

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In Lom and Yiwa's case, I think their parents' expectations will push them to a breaking point where they will be forced to come out to their families, and an appropriate amount of heartache will ensue. My hope for this series is that our delightful Nuea ends up planning a double wedding so everyone gets their "happily ever after."

Citeste mai mult

Finally a 2023 Thai series that gives me butterflies :)

I have developed a complete love for this series and both men since the end of ep 2. This episode gave me so many sweet, warm fuzzies, and I am so grateful I came across this gem from Thailand! I had lost a lot of hope for Thai series this year, but this show is wonderful and I plan to shout that from the digital rooftops!!!! I just finished episode 4 and am so eager for episode 5. No, the storyline is not very original, but it is well done and I think the actors are doing a great job so far....does it help that I find both leads super gorgeous...yes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is the first Thai show this year that I haven't had to force myself to sit distractedly through an episode and that I am 1000% rewatching! It's honey-sweet and the pacing is phenomenal thus far. The music is lovely and fits the story better than average too. I want to say this will be one of my top ten from Thailand, but there are 6 episodes to go, and I don't want to jinx it. Right now, I am loving this show and all the butterflies it started giving in ep3 and that are still there through ep 4.

Citeste mai mult