Plot-wise, there’s nothing new, but this allows for more nuance in exploring Hikaru and Rihito’s relationship, their internal struggles, and their anxieties about the future. We see their relationship develop over the course of high school.
To complement the muted, gentle, genuinely unparalleled visuals, there is a simple “slice of life” story: Hikaru Kusakabe (Hiroshi Kamiya) is in a rock band, an eccentric and free spirit and when he sees classmate Rihito Sajo (Kenji Nomiya), an honor student, practicing solitarily for an upcoming class chorus festival, the two spark a friendship that blossoms into romance. Just the animation should earn Doukyusei more attention. Japanese title: 24時間ずっとLOVE, 24jikan Zutto Love We search for meaning beyond the exasperating 24 hours Naima and Sergio spend together, not that there’s supposed to be, but that doesn’t make Duck Butter any less memorable.
It’s hard to tell whether this is intentional, but the movie leaves you feeling as exhausted and confused as the marathon relationship did. Despite the claustrophobia and listlessness of this movie, the sex scenes are fantastic, stuffy and real, not grossly sexy and the microdramas are blown up and made bizarrely intense. They’ve both had dishonest and exhausting relationships in the past and are tired of reserve, unnecessary tension and wasted time.
The plot is simple, maybe fatally so: Naima (Alia Shawkat) and Sergio (Laia Costa) meet and hook up and decide to spend 24 hours together, having sex on the hour. Dear Ex is very stylish, with the long shots and hot hues (and an outstanding soundtrack!), but ultimately it’s a tearjerker. Not only is Chengxi’s narration foregrounded – teen angst always makes for good viewing – but we are offered character studies of all three protagonists, all their flaws and yearnings for love. She brings her 13-year-old son, Chengxi (Joseph Huang), with her to Jay’s apartment to confront her dead husband’s lover. When Sanlian’s (Ying-Xuan Hsieh) husband Zhangyuan (Spark Chen) dies, she discovers that he designated his male lover Jay (Roy Chiu) as his benefactor – but she must sign off on the claim. Japanese title: 僕らが本気で編むときは, Bokura ga Honki de Amutoki waĪnother domestic drama, with purposefully kitschier and more colorful flavors and just as much heart. As much as we get to hear Rinko’s “backstory” and the history of Tomo’s fraught biological family, to watch Rinko and Tomo’s relationship unfold is to watch a family come into its own. This drama has all the charm and interpersonal subtlety of Hirokazu Koreeda’s cinema of unconventional family, but instead of childrearing, it is focused more on the way Tomo navigates these unique relationships (Why does this stranger take better care of me than my own mother?) and people’s reactions to her new living situation. Tomo (Rinka Kakihara), an 11-year-old girl, lives with her mother – until she finds herself alone. She then goes to live with her uncle Makio (Kenta Kiritani) and his girlfriend, Rinko (Toma Ikuta), who is a transgender woman. Netflix Japan has a good range of international offerings, from animation to musical, from lighter teen flicks to heavy dramas. Films with LGBTQ+ characters aren’t a monolith. Of course, as the calls for more diverse media grow louder, it’s necessary to recognize media diversity. But too often in this conversation are non-Western movies neglected.
So if you’re looking for more wholesome queer goodness, we’ve got you sorted.It’s clear that LGBTQ+ representation has significantly grown in popular cinema in just the past few years. Ultimately, Heartstopper shouldn’t be where your viewing starts and ends. On Twitter, people have been sharing their ‘ My Heartstopper’ equivalents – characters that, intentionally or not, provided LGBTQ+ visibility for them when growing up. Such a statement discredits the many shows and movies preceding Heartstopper that have handled their queer coming-of-age stories with similar levels of sensitivity. Some have described Heartstopper as the first of its kind. And while it’s a rarity, it’s not the only uplifting tale of being young and queer available. There’s no denying Heartstopper is extremely lovely and that it will inevitably act as a source of validation for its Gen Z audience – with high schoolers played by appropriately-aged actors, most of whom also align with their character’s identity: a lesbian couple who are proud of the label (happy Lesbian Visibility Week!) a Black trans woman untethered from a traumatic subplot.