Light (2021)

Excellent, but too short

This is a very good 44 minute long LGBT short movie. It is well made and well written. The story is intense, concerning a young man who, after suffering sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather, turns to selling himself to other abusive men. But the arc of the plot turns happier (and sexier) when he meets an undercover cop who falls for him.

Strong points:

-- The plot is interesting, engaging and well-conceived. It concerns some heavy topics but is not overwhelmingly depressing. (That said, it does feature a couple of incidents of rape, and people who are sensitive to sexual violence should be warned.)
-- The acting is truly excellent. Jed Chung does a good job of communicating how clueless and lost Light is. Even more, I thought Max Liu was tantastic -- thoroughly believable as Light's savior, Shuo. Liu is intense, masculine and yet soft -- the way he treated Light was perfect. (In some ways he takes the place of the father-figure Light never had). And he has a wonderful deep voice and a gorgeous body, so what's not to love? (P.S. the MDL pic of Max, above, does NOT do him justice.)
-- The cinematography is first rate, with great camera work. (I loved the opening scene, where the cam is following Light through the market as he goes to meet one of his "johns".)
-- There is not a lot of music actually in the movie, that I remember......however the film concludes with a music video (I think the name of the song is "Light") and that one is truly excellent.

Weak point:

-- The decision to make this a short movie limited the creators too much. A longer treatment could have given the audience a better understanding of the development of Shuo's affection for Light. It seems to appear out of nowhere. The lovely scene where Shuo abandons his reserve and makes love to Light would have been just wonderful if the audience had a better feeling for the tensions/mixed feelings that were afflicting Shuo.

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High potential for something longer

I was not disappointed by this short film (40mn) by Adiamond Lee.
The subject is dark and serious (prostitution, abuse) but we do not avoid the pitfall of pathos.

The good idea is to have focused only on the two main characters which allows to explore their personalities enough and don't waste time on secondary characters.

The character of Light is really interesting, we feel a lot of empathy for him. Shuo, the policeman is a little less explored but we manage to know enough about him to understand his actions (it would have been interesting to know more about his work and his missions, to give him a little more deepness).

The direction is impeccable and the very dark photography is well worked with muffled lights that give more darkness to the atmosphere. The two lead actors are good, all in sobriety in their acting.
Of course, in 40mn, it is difficult to do something very deep and the story may seem a bit fast but after all it is quite simple (just two people falling in love) and I think we are not too frustrated even if the story would have really deserved to be more in depth, especially with the themes addressed.

I recommend you to watch this short film which changes from the ordinary and will move you.

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