Secret Love: Love Behind One's Back (2014)

STORY: This is a crazy love triangle and the movie tells you that in the first 60 seconds. The story is well written and I like that it starts (after the 60 seconds) with a nice couple who are in a long-term relationship and living happily together. That seems so rare in BL dramas. Well, it doesn't last long as Wan gets a job and falls for his amazing boss, Ohm. Things go to hell real quick after that. As much as I detest cheating and infidelity, the story is compelling all the way to the end. The ending was powerful and abrupt but not sad nor happy.

ACTING/CAST: WOW, these guys are smokin' HOT. Good actors too, all mature. The sexual tension between the actors was palpable.

MUSIC: It was good for this drama, very polished.

REWATCH VALUE: Yeah, might watch it again with a friend cause I'd like to see the eye candy again.

OVERALL: I can't stand the love triangle stuff but this movie does have a high production value. It's sexy and slick with great cinematography.

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Story had a good blueprint, but could have been tighter.

First and foremost, that description is misleading.

The idea was sound. It was a classic case of changing circumstances resulting in shifting feelings and emotional infidelity. I felt bad for Tar, who said from the very beginning to just let him know if anything ever changes in their relationship. It was a shame to see how their situation made him snap at the end. But it can be explained away by his desperation.

What can't be explained is how very little is actually communicated. Like, it seems like Wan never actually acted on his attraction to Ohm. The only thing he ever confessed to is having fallen for him and nothing is ever shown on the screen. So why wasn't that ever brought up? Also, Ohm is fully aware that the situation with the watch was a misunderstanding. Why didn't he try to defend himself and explain? And Wan told Ohm that he was having trouble with Tar because they didn't get to see each other much anymore. But yet, when talking to Tar himself, he said it was because they spent too much time together. Which one was it/ And why did Ohm's personality seem to change halfway through the film? So it left me very confused in places.

Everyone here is in the wrong. But as Wan himself stated, Wan was the most guilty one. Ohm blatantly pursued and flirted with Wan fully knowing that Wan was taken. But Wan let himself be swayed. Which makes it even worse when Tar had actually tried to open up communication on the matter multiple times, in a civil manner. At any point, Wan could have sat and reflected about what he was feeling. But he just went along with it, all the way until it blew up in his face. And then he still didn't communicate effectively. Meanwhile, Tar escalated the situation in his desperation, putting Wan on the spot on the radio twice and orchestrating a misunderstanding (which, I might add, put him in just as much hot water as it did Ohm).

There was an interesting proposition and set up to make them a throuple. And yes, they could have worked well together in theory. But that was before all of the mess they all caused. If they had gotten into the proposed relationship at that stage, it would have been very toxic moving forwards. So I must give props to Wan for analyzing that situation and not giving it a shot. I also appreciate that the writers didn't try to use it as some sort of easy solution for their conflict. None of them deserved to be with each other. And as such, the ending felt right for this story, even if it is labelled as a sad ending.

I watched this production to see some of early work of the many familiar faces in the cast and crew. As such, I wouldn't consider this a waste of time. But the story could have been tighter in terms of characters and clarity for viewers. I would have also appreciated seeing some references to relationship troubles having been building up even before the job change (or more references to the passage of time), so that it didn't feel as sudden.

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