Wow, this movie left me with all the conflicting feelings and thoughts. I decided to watch it solely because of Fluke since he is such a strong actor. I don't necessarily love everything he is in, but even if the movie/drama isn't great, his acting is pretty much guaranteed to be solid and a highlight which was the case here. He is definitely the silver lining in this movie and I would actually say the acting is in general. The actors were all pretty solid, but Fluke definitely stood out.

The premise here was really interesting and had a lot of potential, but the problem, I felt, was that there was a lot left unclarified. I, like others, initially wondered if Night was a hallucination or figment of Wine's imagination, someone he created to help him cope after Tee never showed up to that building and he just kind of snapped. The problem with that though, I realized, was that Night and Wine did go out into public that one time and were seen by someone and interacted with him which, to me, knocks that theory out. So, if he is real, then what exactly is Night. He's not a vampire in the traditional sense, he seems to be a human being who requires human blood to survive. So was this some kind of disease? Has he been dealing with this his whole life? Why did they never think to seek medical treatment? For something that's pretty central to the story, nothing is explained about it. I also felt like more background was needed on Wine. Why was he the way that he was? He seemed damage, beyond the heartbreak that Tee caused and Boy's manipulation. Why was he so desperate to be loved? I found it a bit disappointing how surface level all the characters were, but especially him.

The story also felt rushed in terms of the relationships. We see Wine jump from man to man. The fact that he knew nothing about Night and was immediately ready to have sex with him made me think he was maybe a sex addict. But, no, we're expected to believe that in an incredibly short space of time, he's fallen so deeply in love with Night that he is willing to kidnap his ex-lovers in order to get the blood Night needs to live. Again, it feels rushed and implausible. With Wine's history, I didn't necessarily believe that he truly loved Night. And with Night being an amnesiac, I didn't really believe that he loved Wine either, certainly not initially since it didn't even seem like he fully understood what he was saying. This was the biggest issue for me because that's the core of the film, how far will you go to save the one you love. There needed to be way more set up for that and those parts needed to be drawn out to see the relationship develop if it was to be believable for Wine especially to have felt the depth of love required for his actions.

I did, however, enjoy Wine's descent into madness, if you will. Fluke plays the role brilliantly. You gradually start to realize that his love for Night isn't so much love as it is obsession and he truly is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Night to himself and preserve what they have. I also found Tee and Boy's reactions to being kidnapped really fascinating because it showed their true colors and how they truly felt about Wine. Tee, who really did love Wine despite his previous proclamations that he didn't, fought him initially, then stopped. He told him he loved him repeatedly, even when Wine refused to believe him anymore. Boy, on the other hand, who always seemed to view Wine more as a possession than as a person, raged at Wine for using him and cussed him out until Wine put an end to him. Their relationship was one of manipulation on both sides, however, due to his age, the power dynamic was definitely in Boy's favor and it was pretty clear that Wine was just doing what he had to do to get what he needed.

I found the ending to be equal parts stupid, lacking explanation and interesting. I found Night throwing himself away eye rolling frankly. It felt out of place. I could see the meaning in that particular spot because that's where they found the guitar, but still, I wasn't a fan. I wanted a little more information as to why exactly Wine was arrested. Did Tee end up telling the police after all, was Boy's body found, or what exactly transpired there? Not a huge deal, I just like details. I found the open ending though, to be interesting. I tend to prefer my endings all tied up with a neat bow, but there was something about that last shot of the guitar sitting in the cell that I really liked. Personally, I take it as both Night and Wine committing suicide. Aside from, again, Night appearing to throw himself away, he's obviously not willing to hurt anyone to feed himself so he's going to die of starvation anyway. And after losing Night, I think that would be the final straw for Wine. I view him seeing Night in the cell as a hallucination and the abandoned guitar as a sign that he's killed himself. If you're an optimist, I suppose you could also see it as they've escaped together and left the guitar behind, but based on the vibe of the rest of the movie, I'm kind of doubting it.

Ultimately, its not a god awful movie, it just doesn't live up to its potential. I think with some tweaks it could have been far superior to what it is, but unfortunately as it is, it feels pretty mediocre. The highlight is definitely the acting. I'm not going to tell anyone to avoid watching it, it's less than two hours long and I wouldn't say its a waste of time, but don't go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece.