O Efeito (2019)

Massive trigger warnings!!!

I know everyone has already said it but there I am saying it again: before you decide to watch, you need to know that this may be a short series but it is VERY heavy and needs the BIGGEST trigger warnings.

So after watching many sweet cheesy BL series, I wanted a change and decided to check this out after reading the reviews. It sure was heavy on me and left an impact, however, it was a big slap for me to get back to reality. I don't even want to talk about the despicable acts that were portrayed in this but it did have some good things in it.

I loved how the main character got real support from his family and close friends who know him best. It just shows that only those who know you best will support you in hard times and that those who comment from afar surely know nothing. Another thing is platonic ships do exist and not every ship has to be sexual so THANK you to the director for showing that throughout the series (main character's friends). The character developpment in this was amazing, everyone is strong and can move on from whatever bad thing that happens to them, no matter what.

Now about the ending, everyone was talking about how it's not so good but for me I could somehow understand the director's pov as they wanted to show that pressure (from family, society and surroundings) can lead to damaging things affecting everyone around that person.

Just a small note before I end this review, if you truly love someone you may want to tell them to get away from social media because it sure will have a bad impact on your life.

Leia Mais

Great performances and OST Single

Boy Sompob's heartbreaking OST ballad "Back" tells the whole story of this drama, perhaps better than the drama itself. Thankfully "The Effect" is only 3 episodes, so there isn't the usual 18 extra episodes of padding and the interest level is at full throttle. James Prapatthorn originally auditioned for the support role of Pramote but was born to play shy and adorable Shin, a college Freshman. Oat Chakrit plays Keng, a handsome Senior who's the big man on campus. But Keng has a secret: he likes guys and it's love at first sight when he meets Shin. On his first day at school, Shin befriends two guys his own age -- veteran actor Yacht Surat as Bright and newcomer Top Akechat as Pramote. Bright and Pramote develop their own non-romantic bromance as the story goes along. Meanwhile, we learn that Keng has serious anger management issues. He's so sexually repressed that he ends up raping Shin. Well, that pretty much kills the story dead in its tracks. Whatever sympathy we had for Keng is gone. We never really learn if Shin likes guys, but he emphatically states he doesn't love Keng, so we'll have to go with that at face value. What salvages the drama from this point on is the unconditional (but unromantic) love Shin receives from Bright and Pramote. Usually these secondary characters are throw-aways, but Yacht and Top really get to show off their considerable acting skills. Keng tries to make up to Shin, and even though we can identify with the real life dilemma of a gay man being attracted to a straight guy, the rape was a deal-breaker for our sympathy. Shin, again, tells him to go away. Five years pass and Shin has finally completed university. He meets up with Bright and Pramote on graduation day (they graduated two years earlier). They part and Bright and Pramote walk off together holding hands. But we're left wondering what happened to our main characters. Presumably, through some telepathic connection, they commit suicide at the same time, by the same method of stepping out into the street in front of a car. The tilt up of the camera and dissolve to white suggests they died and went to heaven. Well, maybe so. But after such a long drama, that was a pretty abrupt and unmotivated ending. And if Shin died, who is narrating this story? His ghost? It may be the producers are setting us up for Series 2 but where would we go from here? If they survived the car accidents, who would cheer for Shin hooking up with his rapist? Anyway, I do hope to see James in something else. He had tremendous chemistry with Top in their scenes together. They'd make a great BL romantic duo.

Leia Mais

If you're watching this because you saw it in some Bl list , don't do it .. I don't mean it's a bad watch but yeah it doesn't end well for you .. It doesn't have a disappointing end or something but ...They left no void in showing some bad aspects of the LGBTQ+ world and even simply how there is a fine line between love and obsession ... The scars which run down deep due to the emotional trauma for a person , they executed it really well .. and not to mention sensitive topics such as sexual assault , molesting and homosexual rapes , it's not for someone light hearted , Do i regret watching it ? I certainly don't but did i enjoy watching it ? Definitely not , this bought up many personal scars to the surface which i'd rather leave alone... and for the rewatch value , it's not that the show doesn't have the rewatch value but would you really watch a psychologically depressing thing again ? I'd rather not ... Ho' mentions to Yatch , he's a darling in this one..

Leia Mais

Good way of telling a story

!!!! R@PE, SPOILERS !!!!

A lot of people warned me for this series, i was glad they did.

This series shows that life is not always good and happy, There are a lot of things that is around the world.

The story is about a boy who has a sort of crush on a boy in his school,
And they met because the boy forgot something.
They become sort of friends and they spend time together
Then the drama happens.
The boy dont likes the boy from his school.
So the other boy gets mad and r@pes him

I don’t like that this happens but this series shows it in a good way and it doesn’t get romantized.

Leia Mais

The effect... of a trauma

At first I didn't want to watch it, because love stories aren't really a priority to me, but got convinced by the "self harm" tags (I like these controversial and impactful topics). Turns out this is not a BL and has nothing romantic in it.

The acting was strange. In the first episode I felt like the main leads were a little bit inexperienced, but in the other two episodes their perfomance was flawless. I don't know if it was just an impression or something.

So the plot is really interesting, because at first you have absolutely no idea how everything is going to develop. Starts out pretty normal with the two main leads slowly getting closer to each other. Then everything escalates quite rapidly. It really shows how people affect you in different ways: how the expectations of Keng's parents affect his behaviour, how the rape affects Shin's mental health and how everyone's perception of Keng changes because of his actions.

The show is extremely realistic. I really felt Shin's trauma and I loved how, towards the end, they showed how things developed for everyone, leaving Shin to meditate on how things could have been different if it hadn't been for his trauma.
The ending is also nice. It's an open ending that some might not like. I just wish it was less enigmatic, because I have so many interpretations for it and I don't know which one is correct.

I'd absolutely recommend it.

Leia Mais

I was looking at comments and reviews for this show and quite a lot of them were mixed. I was a little hesitant to watch it but I gave it a try anyway. Personally, I thought this show was actually really good. It was able to address a lot of taboo issues. Emotions were well portrayed by the actors and the music was perfectly matched with the scenes.

The series starts off very bright and optimistic, but later takes a dark turn in episode two. If you're looking for a romance BL, search somewhere else because this show is basically unrequited love gone wrong. Despite only being three episodes, I felt my heart literally ache so many times. Compared to other shows, I think it gives a rather good idea of what rape victims have to actually deal and struggle with. However, if you're uncomfortable with issues/scenes concerning rape, suicide, and self-harm, I would suggest avoiding this show.

I felt the ending was fine. I don't know why I saw comments saying they were surprised/shocked? It felt it was more of a question mark that was meant to be left alone.

All in all, there was a lot of substance in this series despite being only three episodes long. Would definitely recommend everyone to watch it. I wouldn't want this series to have a sequel, but I honestly wouldn't mind a show about Bright and Pramote :)

Leia Mais

This drama is so realistic at times it will trigger you. And I don't know about anyone else but that ending was perfevt. This show is brave in its rendition of a society that's ready to destroy and lynch someone and taking part in victim blaming, why didn't he call the cops, why didn't he leave, why didn't he get him arrested -- all of these comments you'll hear in review sections of such dramas because people don't understand the way trauma destroys your will to live, let alone fight, it many trauma bonding and other mental illnesses will develop which leave the victims completely disoriented and confused and even paranoid, which in turn makes you further retreat into your shell and pretty much your life is destroyed. This is what this book talks about. These effects. And the way they did it was excellent.
And I love how realistic Kengs behavior was after when he's still trying to get Shin back, practically blackmailing him and blaming everyone but himself and still saying he loves Shin. Typically sociopathic narcissist behavior.
And the problem which I think that ending really emphasized was that it's obvious Shin still has feelings for him.
Just screwed up.
And honestly James was always cute in LBC but now he's playing this part so well, you can see the pain and desolation in his eyes. Even Oat played his role well.
Definitely a good drama.

Leia Mais

Damn! Heartbreaking but Excellent.

Warning! This is not a romance in any way shape or form. Possible triggers!

This is dark, tragic, heartbreaking and raw. The series doesn't shy away from or gloss over extremely sensitive & difficult to tackle subjects/topics, including; Rape, Sexual Assault, Suicide, Homophobia, Bullying & Depression, Assault & Violence etc. The series handles these difficult storylines tastefully, with care & compassion, whilst still realistically portraying the suffering of victims.

It really is worth a watch!

P.S - That ending though.......DAMN! - I never saw that coming!

Leia Mais