“Melancholia,” “The Loneliest Man on Earth,” and “We Need To Talk About Tony,” the three first episodes of the much buzzed about Love At The End Of The World, have already been shown on Gagaoolala, the premiere online entertainment platform that presents anything and everything pink and gay.
Award-winning producer Shandii Bacolod’s directorial comeback under Temporary Insanity Pictures & MSB Entertainment Production, mind you, is not for the dye-in-the-wool conservative flock and the faint-hearted prudes. Yes, even the most cosmopolitan members of the pink community might find the series disturbing, intense, even preposterous with its depiction of gay men and their love stories.
In this erotic series, one can easily pinpoint who are the scheming predators, easy preys, willing victims, and wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Men of various shapes and sizes namely Kristof Garcia (Bidaman Ampalaya Chronicles), Rex Lantano (Daddy Love, MMK), Nico Locco (Culion, Sabado), Mike Liwag (Culion, Unlocked), Elijah Filamor (Alpha: The Right to Kill), Yam Mercado (Culion), Khalid Ruiz, and Markki Stroem (Slumber Party, Unlocked), with Gold Azeron (Metamorphosis, Unlocked) give passion and love in the darkest hue of crimson and not the usual baby pink and powder sky blue colors that describes the feel of current homoerotic and homosexual boy’s love entertainment offerings.
As a matter of fact, the subject matters in the Bacolod series, are taboos in juvenile BL staples – parental rejection, emotional co-dependency, moral ambiguity, pain and loss, sorrow and suffering, and yes, that suicide is not just an alternative but a solution.
The most striking element in this dark gay drama is that all characters are damaged, flawed, fearful, and insecure. And all these emotional scars make them the most beautiful set of intriguing and interesting men who love and have sex with other men.
Of the many characters, most drawn to Ian Magalang, the one played by Gold Azeron who personified pure and innocent love. Nico Loco’s emotional truth in showing the anguish, turmoil, torment, and resolve of Tony Smith is the out-and-out opposite of the head-over-heels Ian.
When Azeron first appeared on screen, his energy and magic as an actor was quite palpable. Azeron and Loco give a whole new spin to the words sexual chemistry and tension because what they showed in their episode comes from two bewildered souls longing for truthful and meaningful connection and they are not slaves to the callings of their loins.
Impressed with the intensity and volatile nature of Renzo Macapinlac and Cris Loyola, portrayed with the right amount of anger, chaos and tenderness by Elijah Flamor and Yam Mercado. Yes they are truly tiring to watch because the characters are hysterical, but when they show their soft and gentle side, telling us that they complete and make each other the happiest, you buy it, hook, line and, sinker.
And the ghost of a romantic past, Mike Liwag as George Gonzales who continues to plague Rex Lantano, who gave an emotionally committed portrayal of Sam Marcelo. With Lantano, remembering a person that you used to love and that forgiving is always the easier part, the forgetting, an arduous process that even a new lover or love cannot be of assistance, strikes a delicate emotional nerve.
Physically, Garcia is the heartthrob. Ruiz, magnetic and simpatico. Stroem, diva suits him well.
This series created by Bacolod shows to its audiences that people who are engaged in a different kind of love have their lion’s shares of agony and ecstasy, tears of joy and loneliness, broken promises and shattered dreams, fears brought about by uncertainty of the present, the nagging of the past, and the hopes and wishes of a brighter and not a bleak future.
And for it to work, the keywords are commitment, honesty, vulnerability, and love that truly, madly, deeply accepts and knows that what they have and share, is worth it.
Kudos as well to the cinematography and musical score. They were topnotch and helped heighten a great deal of emotions, moods, shifts, and turns in the series.
Love At The End Of The World episodes are released Thursday at 12 midnight.