Country Boy (2021)

No BL, but a true gem

The last six months have seen some remarkable BL-highlights, like 'A tale of 1000 stars' or 'I told sunset about you', where a lot of money was spent to create beautiful series. Wayufilm once again proves that it's possible to compensate the lack of a huge budget and lucrative sponsorship with creativity, dedication, and a cast of highly talented and overwhelmingly cute actors. And – to make this clear from the start – although this is not BL, it is a true gem that BL fans will love, I promise.

The plot is simple on the surface: A student from Bangkok visits Chiang Mai to experience life in the countryside and therefore travels with three Chiang Mai friends to a remote rural 'hotel'. This simple plot is, however, used to address some of the problems Thailand (like many developing countries) is facing, not by making the actors elaborate at length on migration from land to cities, left-behind marginal rural areas, unequal distribution of wealth etc, but by seemingly incidentally displaying their consequences in the daily lives of the people.

Let me give two examples. When the country boy's mother tells her son she's afraid she will be left behind alone some day, after her daughter has already escaped to the city with a guest, we see like in a magnifying glass what internal migration means for the countryside. When a debt collector of a money shark threatens Kep his boss will take the 'homestay' away from the family who have run out of money due to the covid crisis, this little scene en passant makes it obvious that the pandemic hits poor people the hardest and makes the rich even richer.

Now this may sound as if 'Country Boy' was a depressing account of poor people's problems, but it is exactly the opposite, thanks to the carefully constructed storyline, which contrasts the big problems with little pleasures on the personal level. In part 2, the film offers a solution to overcome the divide between prospering cities and left behind countryside: the visitors decide to help Kep and his mother improve their 'hotel' and attract more paying guests, and donate their money so that the outstanding debt can be paid. It is a small example of how the problems of marginalized regions can be solved: by the transfer of money and skills, on a much larger scale, of course, supported by many more good-willed people like these four boys, and local people ready to adapt to the changes.

So we have to talk about the characters. Kep is the country boy who succeeds in smiling away all the obstacles of the hard life in the country. However, he isn't the one-dimensional naive optimist, he has his moments of fear and frustration, too, but he always finds the beauty in the little things of life. As his guests expect 'activities', and there are none, he invents some over night: watering the plants, for example, which seems weird to the visitors at first, but then they love it.

The Bangkok student and the three Chiang Mai boys, on the other hand, at first only see the quaint, romantic side of country life, but soon realize that things are not so romantic when you have to face the naked truth behind the pictoresque scenery. They do appreciate the clean air, the beautiful landscape, and the rural life, but they are soon confronted with the basic problem of poverty. Unlike many well-off city people, they don't close their eyes, but do the best they can to help their new friend Kep. At the same time, they learn that the local food that looks like 'dog's puke' to them, tastes wonderful.

Now you may ask, 'where is the BL-factor' in this? Well, there actually isn't much, no kissing, no sex like in previous OakMon movies, just a few secret glances in episode 1, and two hugging scenes in the final part. That may be disappointing to some viewers who have expected more, but honestly, more wouldn't have fit the characters of Kep and Nabdao. Not so soon. But maybe in a sequel? Somehow it feels like Nabdao and Kep will meet again.

Which takes us to the actors, and they are just brilliant. Oak has proven he is able to give depth to his roles at the age of 16 already (if you haven't seen 'Key Love' or 'Night Time', you should watch them, too). The way he expresses joy, fear, surprise, shyness, and love proves he is a natural. With Mon he has a congenital partner which makes these two young actors an iconic couple already (even if they don't become a couple in this movie), and all that without the fan service from a big production company.

But this movie doesn't only rely on the talent and chemistry of the two leads. The supporting actors are all very good. What makes the performance of these five young men so outstanding is their natural way of depicting their roles. In many scenes it feels like the camera is only there to accompany a group of boys for two days, so you get the impression they aren't acting at all.

In some of the big Bangkok productions the main criteria to put together the cast of a series is the cuteness factor; talent and acting skills come second and sometimes are lacking completely. In this movie we have one of the rare cases where all the actors are extremely cute, each in his own way (don't tell me Oak isn't cute. Gosh, this smile, and these eyebrows!), and they are talented and skilled at the same time.

The settings are also carefully chosen. When at the beginning the Chiang Mai boys proudly take their Bangkok visitor to the most popular coffee bar, he's bored because he knows all the coffee bars in Bangkok, and coffee bars aren't the reason for him to visit the North of Thailand (which reminds me, a country boy myself, of proudly inviting my city-friend to our newly opened pizzeria, and he was complaining pizzas are much better in the city. He rather wanted me to take him to the forest which I find boring because it's just full of trees and nothing else. Well, the other man's grass...).

Kep's Homestay feels like a haunted house, opening the opportunity to show that boys from the city are more frightened of ghosts than the country boy who finds it completely normal his late grandmother's spirit still inhabits the room he rents out to the visitors. I had to smile when he apologized to her she will have to spend the next few days in his mother's room. The environment of Kep's 'hotel' is used to show the rural people's love of nature, e.g. when Kep teaches his visitors to water the plants, which for him is an act of pleasure and respect.

The cinematography of this movie (I won't call it a series, it's more a movie released in two parts) is an improvement compared with previous Wayufilm productions. This isn't meant to say the older ones weren't good, but the surroundings of Kep's Homestay allow more attractive shots than a classroom, a small flat, or a dirty alley like in previous productions. It doesn't reach the quality of series like '1000 Stars', but it's still good.

Finally, I must mention the soundtrack. The song performed by Mon and Oak is so beautiful it makes me smile every time I hear it, just like the movie makes me smile every time I watch it. I rarely re-watch series or movies, but I have already re-watched the first part three times.

To sum it up, this movie is a true gem, and a real highlight of 2021, maybe not as BL as you would have wanted, but Oak's smile and the natural acting of all the boys easily make up for that. If you're in a sad mood, watch it (again), and I'm sure you'll feel better. If you're in a good mood, still watch it (again), because you'll have one more reason to feel good.

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It is definitely a BL.

There's a scene where they're sitting on a swing. Watch it and tell me if bros sit that close, look at each other that way, the body language, and Oat even does the stretch-the-arm-behind-the-movie-theater-seat thing (adapted for swings).

Also, remember, mother had put up a sign banning romance between staff and guests - what happened to the sign was significant, and even more important is the question Nabdao asks Keptawan when Kep gives him what he gives him at the end. That question is open acknowledgement by Nabdao himself that this is not a bromance situation.

Anyway, this is a 10/10 for me. I have to rate it for what it is, a short film, not a full series, and I've never seen a short BL as good as this. I was actually in tears all the way through the second part (in a good way, don't worry, the White Truck of Death doesn't show up and run anyone over in the last scene.)

The acting is wonderful - it's so natural, even Oak's OTT character is totally believable and sincere. Mon is just plain gorgeous, and this shows what can be accomplished when you get someone who is beautiful AND can act. What a difference a year can make at that age. The supporting characters were all well-acted too.

The story is tight and economical, and manages to really address rural problems and symbolically indicate what the solutions are - by showing us, not telling us.

I have nothing negative to say about this - I can't think of any criticisms - except maybe in a few spots the sound quality was a little off. The editing was tight, the writing respected the audience, and the romance was subtle and realistic given who they were and where they were. The technical quality of this is way above Wayu's previous works, which to me means they're learning and getting better, and I'm really looking foward to their next project.

I think they've mastered the short story - maybe it's time for a second attempt at a longer series.

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