Surprisingly GOOD and POIGNANT! Subtley Powerful...

At first glance, I thought: "Oh dear, this is just gonna be another forgettable, low-tech gay 'indie' film..." But since my Netflix DVD queue was dwindling for the first time since...since I joined (TEN YEARS AGO!), I finally had cycled to this DVD, which must've been sitting in my waiting list for God knows how long.

I put in the DVD with low expectations, observing the first title card that unusually purported the truth about the production of this film--that it was filmed without a crew, and with creative liberty from the usual scripted format nonetheless.

Strangely, although it opened with a rather overused drama trope: a death, (spoiler: the protagonist simply spoke alone at a funeral), I found myself getting drawn into the story right after.

I think the self-proclaimed low tech aspect of this film actually worked, cuz consequently it relied solely on character and story for once, instead of the usual gay film cliches: sex and histrionics.

The characters that populate the movie are sparse as well, allowing them to grow, evolve and reveal themselves to us. The central themes (particularly Parent/Child relations, and the repercussions of) resonated surprisingly well. Sure, there was one gay film trope that occurred: the gay protagonist comes out, goes to his first gay bar, and immediately lands his first boyfriend (cuz you know, that happens to every gay man on Earth).

But the film makes up for it, by all its other factors. The emotional climax was beautiful, earned, and well-balanced. It wasn't cliche or unbelievable. The ending also was beautiful, in that it didn't tie everything up neatly but was still satisfying for the viewers who have invested in the characters' lives.

All in all, I just wanna applaud the filmmakers and actors, for a nice effort. This is what we need more of in cinema: Good stories, good characters, and good themes...

Thanks!