Marie Dolah

This show is one of a kind. It's main assets are obviously the never-ending series of hilarious events, the adorable bromance between the two lead actors and a unique twist to your typical good versus evil storyline. Watching it is definitely worth your time. Every scene is so gripping that the lack of romance easily goes unnoticed. It definitely has a place among really well-written and well-executed Korean shows.

At a glance, the visual effects of this movie - the immersive cinematography, the dazzling sceneries, the undoubtedly beautiful acting - and the accompanying music are very striking, but that's where it ends. This movie was made to be a romance, albeit a badly-written one. The characters seem to exist solely for the purpose of the relationship portrayed in the film and though emotions are expertly depicted by the actors, the emotions themselves fall short because they're not backed up well enough by the story. An obvious flaw is the age gap, not because "certain viewers" aren't open-minded enough to accept it and be comfortable with it, but because it sends the wrong message to REAL teenagers and REAL adults who aren't FICTIONAL characters. Seven to eight years wouldn't seem like much if both partners are adults and have nearly an equal level of experience in maturity, but when one of them is so new to the idea of sex, sexuality and love (the movie constantly hints at this), it's difficult not to perceive their exchanges as pedophilia. I say this as a teenager myself; it's frankly wrong. Judging a book by its cover, this film's aesthetic - almost ethereal - production (the reason behind two stars) hides a flimsy tale at its core which would appeal more to fantasizers or fetishizers rather than the actual people it represents. Some major issues that really bothered me were: [MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD] 1. Marcia, the girl Elio had been leading on, had never received an apology. Defending Elio because he was confused doesn't excuse how he insincerely played with her emotions and she just accepted it without any qualms at the end. Any real person would feel more offended, but that's my opinion. (This is another example of Elio's lack of maturity, to be honest) 2. The father knew about the relationship between his 17 year-old son and a grown man and was absolutely okay with it, even sending them off on a private vacation together without hesitation. Good parents are naturally protective of their children, and this seems careless on his part. An entire monologue is given by the father to justify this, but it seems like an excuse for the plot more than a moral reason. Imagine if it was his daughter sexually involved with a foreign adult. Any good parent would worry, and realistically, do more than just worry. Why should it be any different for a son? 3. The relationship obviously had much more of a focus on lust than romance (lots of LGBTQ media representation tends to do that). I've heard people gushing about how they felt they were inside the movie witnessing Elio and Oliver fall in love, but I couldn't see it at all. The story didn't probe into feelings or reasoning their attraction but it simply felt like curiosity from Elio's side and indulgence from Oliver's. The relationship appeared completely impulsive, so the "love" is pretty obscure. 4. The ending was absolutely unnecessary to such an extent I couldn't even feel sad. On the whole, the story itself felt somewhat unrealistic, and this ending is trying so hard to be tragic and real. What message is this film even trying to convey?? 5. Smoking is a typical element in many films, but it was made to seem so natural amongst even the underage characters in this one, and Elio’s parents seemed to support or ignore it. I don’t understand if this was to promote the idea of a “cool”, “mature” family, but smoking is terrible for health (especially at a young age) and parents should not deem it appropriate for their kids while they’re still their guardians. And that's the word limit...