When they go to visit Mickey, their terminally ill former English teacher, two men and a woman remember their youth, when they began their friendship during their high school years.
After saying goodbye to the sick man, they return to the old intensive school to remember their years of study and their rebellious youth. Suddenly, quickly, colorfully and festively, the story goes back in time, to 1994.
At this point in the footage we have been identifying the main characters of the Taiwanese youth romantic drama 'After School', from 2023, by director and screenwriter Blue Lan, about coming of age.
Cheng Heng, the main narrator, is a teenager and only child who aspires to be a filmmaker, although his father insists that he study mathematics to become a teacher. Enrolled in Success Cram School, he takes remedial lessons to help improve his grades. However, instead of paying attention to his studies, he spends most of the day interrupting lessons and playing pranks, such as calling the school secretary, using his voice to make sexual advances, or setting fire to the school and provoking a fire with the consequent evacuation of students, teachers and administrators.
Cheng Hsiang is Cheng Heng's friend and also a troublemaker. He is the typical cute boy in the class, and many of his classmates dream of being his boyfriend, with the exception of the class beauty, Chen Sih, whom Cheng Heng has a crush on.
In addition to games and studies, the two boys share a bed in Cheng Heng's house, since his parents have taken him in, knowing of his poverty. They practically do everything together, from sharing a toothbrush to joking about their dirty, semen-stained underwear.
Ho Shang, an obedient and rule-abiding student, is the third in the company, known as the three musketeers of success, although not always of his own free will. Son of Wang, the director of the intensive school, is dragged by the two best friends in their misdeeds. We will soon learn the reason: when the exasperated principal wants to expel Cheng Heng and Cheng Hsiang, his wife will remind him how Ho Shang, in elementary school, was bullied by the older students, and the duo always protected him.
As we anticipated, Cheng Heng believes that studying at school will allow her to be close to Chen Sih, a girl with a strong character who defends herself. However, Cheng Heng is too nervous to ask her out.
With a main arc in the usual teen romantic comedy style, we follow the friends in their teenage pranks, falling in love and family relationships, used mainly for laughs, in an approach that takes up most of the film's 124-minute running time. .
Based on true events, when Mickey, a new substitute teacher with progressive ideas about teaching and society in general, takes over the classroom, the two young people discover a mentor who finally offers them proper guidance about their lives, by talking to them about romantic relationships and sexuality and teaching them to understand homosexuals and themselves.
Mickey openly addresses issues of sexuality education in the classroom and beyond, and encourages his students to think freely. Upon learning that he also dreams of being a filmmaker, Cheng Heng will admire the professor even more and will have him as a role model, interested in adopting his rich philosophy of life.
An embarrassing home accident causes Cheng Heng to suffer a burn in his groin. This will be the reason why students begin to speculate that Cheng Heng and Cheng Hsiang may have a romantic relationship.
However, this same event will also serve as a pretext for Mickey, aware of the rumors, to offer advice and guidance to a student who is currently going through a period of doubts and insecurities regarding his sexuality.
Meanwhile, Chen Sih begins dating the trio, Ho Shang fights with his parents over his two friends, Cheng Hsiang experiences a homosensual awakening, and Cheng Heng becomes more open to sexuality under Mickey's positive influence.
Michael's appearance permeates an atmosphere of freedom and fun. In truth, his dream is other than working as a teacher. The "awakening" he will generate in the students, in completely different directions, that eventually occurs due to his influence, takes the narrative down a completely new path. The story unfolds in a surprising way, this being one of the best aspects of the entire film, which should definitely be attributed to the way Blue Lan handles the twists.
At this point, the comedy transforms into drama, which reaches greater intensity as the story progresses, to the point that the last part, which also returns to the opening scene, borders on the melodramatic. Although this last aspect does not always work well, the truth is that 'After School' never abandons its intention to entertain.
At this point, multiple LGBTQ+ characters and stories are introduced into the story. The film puts homosexuality in the spotlight. However, despite exploring many relevant topics with the goal of educating and raising awareness among viewers, the stories barely scratch the surface instead of highlighting complex experiences. On the other hand, for the moment they perpetuate superficial stereotypes.
There is an excessive abuse of melodramatic scenes, especially when Cheng Heng's parents catch their son watching a gay porn video (which causes the incident noted above) and then catch him in a pose that suggests he is kissing his friend, for example. which his parents overreact while crying, lashing out at the two boys, condemning their son and expelling Cheng Hsiang from the house where they took him in.
The director, Blue Lan, seems well-intentioned. He dedicates his autobiographical film to Mickey Chen, his real-life mentor, an esteemed figure and pioneer in Taiwan's LGBTQ+ community. 'After School' pays tribute to someone who was instrumental in producing documentaries focused on queer and gender issues, actively participating in street protests advocating for equal rights for gays and lesbians.
Kipo Lin's editing results in a fast and fairly adequate narrative, although the extensive flashbacks to scenes already presented could have been avoided.
Comments on LGBT rights in the country of the time are quite frequent, without ignoring the simplicity of the messages and not describing gay issues with sufficient nuances. Even so, they address problems such as the pressure that adolescents felt in the 90s of the last century from their parents (they still suffer today) to succeed on the "correct" path, that is, the heterosexual one, the heteronormative, interpreted as studying in a good school, being able to enroll in the best university, getting an excellent job after graduating and getting married and having a magnificent family, especially with many children.
In that conservative and heteronormative society, concepts like homosexuality definitely have no place. Much less homosexual marriage, recognized only in the country 25 years after the events narrated in the film.
This approach adds depth to the story and reinforces the film's positive intentions, although the overall attitude here remains "light" to the point of becoming idyllic at times. In general, Blue Lan does not significantly lose its sense of measure.
The performances fit perfectly with the narrative style of the story. While the character played by Zhan Huai Yun exhibits impressive chemistry with Chiu Yi Tai's Cheng Hsiang, who is equally good, also in the way he handles his coming of age, even though the former's role is reduced to that of best friend.
Charlize Lamb as Chen Sih provides the necessary female element in the story as a bone of contention who eventually shapes the lives of the young people as well, in another quite attractive presence in the film.
Blue Lan himself plays Cheng Heng quite convincingly, both in the humorous and dramatic moments.
While Hou Yan Xi as Mickey is excellent in the role of the progressive teacher/mentor, Chien He Wu as Ho Shang promises a meatier journey, stealing the show at times, particularly after his transformation, when he finally spreads his wings. and he dares to fly without caring about his father's prejudices, but there is not enough development of his character and his conflicts.
On the other hand, the convincing bromance between Cheng Heng and Cheng Hsiang delves into romantic territory when they share a moment of intimacy, but the result does not meet the audience's expectations, failing to delve into feelings or portray the romantic nuances of the relationship. Despite addressing LGBT+ themes, the film avoids telling a homosexual love story. The cinematography follows brilliant paths, in an approach that coherently adapts to the narrative.
'After School' lacks a good script. Its poor writing reiterates all the predictable tropes. Sentimental messages fail to strike the viewer's nerve. We have seen this film about rebellious young people and mentors who guide their students on other occasions with better results.
The film highlights the importance of finding a mentor in life, a guide and educator that young people can look up to.
Mickey's arrival in the classrooms also eventually moves in the same direction of providing moments of reflection, but also of fun, adding to the narrative of the film, but the "awakening" of the young people, in completely different directions, which eventually occurs With the teacher's help, he takes the narrative down a completely new path. Frankly, the way the story unfolds is as surprising as it gets, in one of the best aspects of the entire movie, which should definitely be attributed to the way Blue Lan handles the twists.
Despite being cliched and cheesy at times, 'After School' is still a very entertaining film that manages to present its commentary eloquently, although its greatest feature comes from the fact that it will repeatedly leave the viewer with a smile on their face.