Midnight Love (2023)

Beautiful in its simplicity

This mini-movie I know appears to be more like an ‘after-school’ project and perhaps held together with chewing gum and glue. This is never going to win any awards nor be on any top 10 list. However, it did do something for me that so many BLs, especially Thai, do not do for me anymore. And that is, it made me smile. Made my eyes tear up. It also made me reflect. Further, it made me see how so, so many everyday ordinary gay relationships begin. This gem captured the heart and soul of a humanity that is not often portrayed. A humanity of individuals whose beauty lies within, not without, whose goodness is inherent, not extrinsic, and whose fortitude is who they are, not guess at. It is a story of genuineness and strength of character. It is a story of life. And most importantly, it is a simple basic story of love. This is just plain fun and gives us the bright side of humanity and shows us the limitless purity of unconditional love.

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Nice storyline and beautifully acted, with emotions I hadn't expected.

OVERVIEW
Content is the son of a film director, and Cop is a young man with a dream but with limited education, who gets a job as a security guard for the film production company. Through the medium of mobile games, the two boys gradually grow to know each other and start to enjoy spending time together. Playing and joking around together shifts to include more serious discussions once Content realises that Cop needs to be taken care of and steps naturally into that role.

As always in Wayufilm productions, the actors seemed to show just as much of the story and the feeling through their eyes, faces, and actions as through their dialogue. This is a hallmark of Wayufilm productions that I really appreciate, as I always feel like I get more of the genuine feelings from the story with the quiet moments and subtle pauses included rather than constant switches between scenes. It amazes me every time that they can create that feeling of being unhurried and realistic in such a short movie! Kudos to the Director, Editor, and others who are so good at this.

MUSIC
Personally, I found the soundtrack a little jarring and out of context, although I got used to it as the movie went on. I understand the desire to show the childlike innocence of the story and the characters, but a musical genre designed for Western pre-schoolers seemed a step too far and forced me out of the story in shock the first time.

ACTING
Night did well in portraying a more active and forward character than in his last role, while still keeping his boyish sweetness. I thought Content did a good job of bringing Cop out of his shell, and he was very quick to recognise his own privilege when he finally saw how different and difficult life was for Cop compared to his own. In a way, I felt like it was almost TOO quick and easy, since people born with such privilege usually are a bit more conflicted or shocked when that privilege recognises itself for the first time. Having said that, Content’s personality overall seems quite calm, so the moments of shock we see on his face as he processes these ideas probably cover an inner turmoil that is much deeper than we see on the surface.

Klong did an amazing job of keeping the quiet naivety and politeness of his character Cop who we assume grew up quite simply (albeit with some troubled patches that are referred to briefly), while also portraying a young man who has a strong dream and passion driving him to keep going and work hard every day, without even knowing if his dream was possible to achieve. I did not expect to get emotional in this movie, but Cop’s panic at the thought of losing his job followed by the tears of gratitude when he realises that he is one step closer to his dreams gets me literally every single time. Outstanding realism.

For Kittisak, I was glad to be able to see him in a role where he was allowed to be a nice person for a change! It was well done.

Finally, I also want to acknowledge the subs team – the English subs are consistently excellent, and capture the essence of what is happening and its impact rather than just translating word for word. That makes a huge difference to our experience of the film if we are not native Thai speakers, so thank you to the subs hero/s!

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