Love at the End of the World (2021)

A dark erotic Mess

Well, this isn’t the typical drama series and has to be seen more as an avantgardistic Art Project. And with art, people either love it or hate it, and both opinions have merit.

But what this series is not is definitely the typical BL. It's very EXPLICIT, dark and disturbing. So for all you fans of super cute guys who adore each other, this is not your series! Please stay away from it.
But if you're into blood, vomit, drugs, suicide and lots of NSFW-scenes, this might be your series.

That being said, the acting and cinematography are on a good level and I appreciate the physicality of the actors.
But if you're expecting a logical and engaging story, you'll probably be disappointed.

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Sheer Brilliance!

This is an astonishing albeit misunderstood BL series that borders on being a masterpiece. It is ne of the finest example of Avant Garde filming I have seen and opens up that to the BL world. It is breathtakingly raw and so real. Erotic! Steamy! Intense! Brilliant! Breathtaking! This series are vignettes that will move you to draw your own conclusions. At times, it makes no sense, yet it all seemed so befitting to its theme. It does not lead you; it only shows you. It is deeply unfortunate that this series was so severely panned. It is simply brilliant. It is an Avant Garde production with a hint of modernism. It reflects the kind of imagery to iconic stories like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. It pushed the envelope of the acceptable status quo of BL genres

This will NOT be for everyone, however.

See my full review of this brilliant piece of artistry at BLBliss.com.

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I Don't Know What at the End of the World

Overall: based on the title, production name (Temporary Insanity Productions), 4 couples in 8 episodes, the summary and the trailer, I knew this wasn't going to be some standard fluffy series. However, it was worse than I thought it would be. It has an experimental film feel at times, but just total nonsense.  I watched ep 1, 2, 4, 8 & 9.

Content Warnings: character death, multiple suicide attempts, suicide, gore, very explicit sex scenes (I normally don't list NSFW as a content warning but these were very explicit), incest?, homophobia, a slap not between m/m couple, dub con kissing/touching (asleep)

What I Liked
- the overall production value was good
- most actors seemed to do a good job (some lines were really terrible so maybe that impacted acting)
- the first episode had a nice food sharing scene
- there were kernels of potential interesting stories like the addicts relationship
- the nsfw scene in ep 4 (except for the dub con)
- the single shot was a neat idea in ep 8, they could have that be ep 1 and then shown the fallout based on what happened in subsequent episodes

Room For Improvement
- the timeline/plot is confusing because there are flashbacks (or forwards?) to guys frantically running naked in the dark. Also there are flashbacks (I think) during the story.  And in the last episode no one is running around bloodied or naked so wth?
- The asteroid disaster. I can suspend disbelief that no one knew this asteroid was close (because in real life they track them when they are years away), and also none of the countries had any solutions for moving it or blowing it up, but here is what an asteroid 7 days away is doing.
A. an odd rainbow in the sky
B. downpours of something (rocks)?
C. chickens/birds following a guy a long distance
D. earthquakes
They should have just had random strange things happen without an explanation.
- total randomness, 2 random guys at the very end of the final episode saying that an earthquake meant the end of the world (the Philippines is in the ring of fire so I'm assuming they have earthquakes on a regular basis, why would someone say it's the end of the world?), what was with the sticky notes? what was with the location change/fishbowl and the addicts? a merman at the end?
- the second episode, that guy has sex with his adoptive dad, vomit. Also, hid dad had just tried to kill himself and the other two guys were getting it on while he was recovering a few feet away, wth???!!!
- too much tongue, I'm all for more realistic kissing but do people kiss like that (ep 1)?! I like well done NSFW scenes that make sense with the story but I felt as though I was watching porn. And both explicit scenes with 3 guys felt like it was done for a shock factor. And what was that saliva (or something else) sharing in the final episode. We don't need to see that.
- many scenes felt thrown in just for shock factor and did not enhance the story

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Where to start?

"Love at the End of the World" is a great title...and that's the last time I am going to be using the word 'great' in this review. Clearly it's meant to be profound, but it fails. Here's a golden opportunity to take a step back and look at ourselves and look at what seems 'important' to us. I always feel that at the end of our time most of us would look back and marvel at the absolute nothingness that we wasted so much time on and wonder, "Was any of that important?" We really didn't need those stylish (but expensive) shoes, we shouldn't have wasted time being mad at loved ones, we maybe shouldn't have been so caught up in so much unimportant stuff...but somehow we were. And, somehow, "LATEOTW" manages to miss every single mark along the way.

Clearly, in the Philippines, a lot of gay men are going to be depressed, suicidal and horny. There's a lot of nudity, a ton of talk about suicide, some drug taking and a heck of a lot of psycho babble being spewed left, right and centre. It's just a bunch of nothing, on top of nothing on top of nothing. Lemme cut this short...this whole thing is a mess - from beginning to end. And, if you think I'm joking, just wait until the final (and totally unnecessary) scene pops up on the screen. One final thing: - as the characters dance around their regrets as they face their final curtain, you the viewer are left to wonder about your own regrets. Well, yeah, I have one major regret. I regret watching this drivel. "Love at the End of the World" is very, very bad.

There. You have been warned.

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It's been done, by much better writers and directors.

The idea behind this was good. But Gregg Araki explored this theme in numerous movies, and has done it better.

Also, 'erotic' does not equal good story telling. Why don't the directors get it?
It's as shallow as most Todd Verow films.

Add some scenes that are exact copies of Sense8, and you get another lazy script and series.

And lastly, 'art' projects still has a story to tell, this show as no idea where is is going, and the end is a convoluted mess.
Was there even an 'end of the world'?
Renzo and Chris was the only characters that I cared about, but then we get the most cliched ending for the couple.

Do we really need to stereotype a Thai character.

There is a black screen with the word 'AAAARGH!!' as subtitles in the last episode and this was exactly how I felt about this show.

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Decent, but not what was expected

I'm glad I read other reviews before I watched this so that I was prepared for the fact that it wasn't a straightforward story. I was initially expecting exactly what the synopsis said, an erotic suspense story. When what we really get is a rather abstract artful story where the erotic scenes really tow the line on whether or not they're actually "erotic" or just softcore porn.

Once you get a feel for the how the story is being delivered then it's an okay story, not the best but good enough with a great way of having everything tied together at the end. Though, the very end, maybe the final 2 minutes or so, I still have no idea who they were or what they had to do with the story.

The series really does look into the darker side of life and examine human nature, our ability to survive, our ability to forgive and our ability to love. The issues this series tackles are deep and interesting, but this could've been done better if they had given each character/story more time and development.

All in all it was decent, and since it was so short I don't regret watching it, but people definitely need to go into it with an open mind.

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A series on the border of genius and its opposite. And I said to myself: now choose ...
I didn't choose the first time. It's definitely not something for the average viewer of BL tales. If you are just looking for comfort with a glass of wine, stretch your legs, relax, are not in the mood to think and possibly watch the series again, which I fully understand, I rather do not recommend it to such a viewer. But at the same time, I acknowledge that monvi took the liberty of translating this piece, full of depression, negative things, difficult to think about and with an affected Pinoy theatricality, and enriching the Czech translations with a fragment of "something" completely different.

Well, the negative things, how it is taken and what the creators wanted to show, there is something behind it. Certainly, most of the young men in each couple are going to die and how they behave, enjoy their last days, what effect it has on their relationships, their ability to forgive, love, survive ... surely there would not be a viewer who relaxes to this slightly insane and watch a slightly erotic piece, immediately condemn it and throw it in the trash.

24/09/2022 SUPPLEMENT
After the second viewing and correction of the subtitles, I'm not so confused anymore, on the contrary, I have an understanding for the story (it's also current, when one guy is currently able to drop nuclear weapons on Europe), but I still don't rank it among the TOP (I give two points for the story), I still didn't get along with the individual characters that much, maybe because there are more of them and there wasn't enough space to get to know them in depth. I don't deduct points for the music because of the inconsistency of the video with the sound, I evaluate the work of the creators and not that somewhere along the "way" someone uploaded the wrong copy to some server.


Seriál na hranici geniality a jejího opaku. A říkal jsem si sám sobě: a teď si vyber ...
Napoprvé jsem si nevybral. Rozhodně to není nic pro běžného diváka BL pohádek. Kdo hledá jen pohodičku ke sklence vína, natáhnout nožky, relaxovat, nemá náladu se zamyslet a případně se podívat na seriál znovu, což plně chápu, tak takovému divákovi spíše nedoporučuji. Zároveň ale kvituji, že se monvi uvolil toto dílko, plné deprese, negativních věcí, těžké na přemýšlení a s afektovanou pinoy teatrálností, přeložit a obohatit české překlady střípkem "něčeho" zcela jiného.

No, negativní věci, jak se to vezme a co tím tvůrci chtěli ukázat, něco za tím je. Rozhodně většinu mladých mužů z jednotlivých dvojic čeká smrt a jak se chovají, užívají si poslední dny, jaký dopad to má na jejich vztahy, schopnost odpouštět, milovat, přežít ... určitě by neměl divák, který se uvolí se na toto mírně šílené a lehce erotické dílko podívat, jej hned odsuzovat a házet do koše.

24.9.2022 DODATEK
Po druhém zhlédnutí a korekci titulků už tolik netápu, naopak, mám pro příběh pochopení (je to navíc aktuální, kdy jeden cvok je v současné době schopen naházet na Evropu atomovky), ale neřadím jej stále mezi TOP (zvedám za příběh dva body), s jednotlivými postavami jsem se stále tolik nesžil, možná i proto, že jich je tam více a nebyl dostatek prostoru je poznat do hloubky. Za hudbu neubírám body kvůli nesouladu videa se zvukem, hodnotím dílo tvůrců a ne, že někde na "cestě" někdo kopii nahrál špatně na nějaký server.

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Much more to offer than steamy scenes and lewd encounters between the characters

What would you do if you only had 7 days to live on earth? Are you going to close all your doors, dig a hole and pretend you're a carrot, or go out and live your life, do things you've never done before?
These questions have to be answered by the eight main characters of 'Love at the End of the World', the Filipino LGBT+ themed erotic thriller series from Temporary Insanity Pictures and MSB Entertainment Production.
Directed by filmmaker Mark Shandii Bacolod, the audiovisual explores the lives of four couples as they navigate through love, pain, loneliness, sadness, forgiveness, redemption, hope and sea monsters.
After NASA reports confirm that an asteroid will hit Earth in seven days, causing a global catastrophe, priorities quickly change and panic ensues.
If each couple's stories are tragic enough, will love be the driving force behind the lasting moments of Earth's existence?
The series is quite strange, which does not lack provocative and highly erotic scenes. And this is precisely what is interesting about it. Each story is put together, while individually presenting the characters that tell a story about their personalities, their past, what they are doing at that moment. They're all different guys, they have different personalities, emotional baggage.
One of the stories, the first, stars Kristof García and Rex Lantano. Ben and Sam, the characters played by these actors, respectively, deepen a story whose relationship is based on the past, to address issues related to mental health, the intimacy of the couple, the refusal of a father to accept his homosexuality son, adult desires, fantasies and how it affects their realities.
The structure of the episode is incredibly well-crafted about life and hope in a love that gives, and how it has become possible to let the other appreciate the love that gives without discarding the man who loved in the past.
I like that the series began with this story, especially with one actor new to BL and the other with experience in the genre, with Garcia playing his first homosexual character, and who we will later see in the film 'Adonis X' and the series 'Kumusta Bro?' and 'Love Bites', all LGBT+ themed and from 2022. While Rex had already given life to Francis / Kiko / "Kiks" in 'Daddy Love' (2021), a love series between boys.
In an act of defiance of norms, in this first story the director will present characters who not only let themselves be drowned by fear, but who did so before the world ended.
The second story, starring Markki Stroem as Mark, and Khalid Ruiz as Kaloy, plays with the emotions of sanity, mental health, eternal love, age, the nature of relationships, the value of life, asteroids, death, the deserted city and the yard animals following the first passerby, as a sign of the imminent end of the world.
The story will make you think about how happiness should be measured when you reach a certain age (or have disabilities), while at the same time it will make us reflect on the possibilities of relationships and how far you can go to prove it to a person.
Markki, known for giving life to Andrew and Quinn in the first and ninth episodes, respectively, of 'Unlocked' (2020), by Adolfo Alix Jr.; and Elle in the film 'Slumber Party' (2013), and newcomer Khalid, more than delivered in their performances, and passionately star in their own set of scenes that either make you want more or make you squirm with the situation, something that It deserves to be seen and subscribed to.
The third story features Nico Locco and Gold Azeron as Tony and Ian, respectively, to explore themes related to mental health, the many ways to die, profanity, comedy, family, commitment, using people, money, depression, hope and unexpected endings.
Nico in his first role as a homosexual person, and Azeron, known for playing Ivan in episode 5 of 'Unlocked', and for playing Adam, the intersex character who was born with two genitals in the film Metamorfosis (2019), by J. E. Tiglao, they give us a story that, in my opinion, is my favorite of the four stories, for being the most romantic, showing how love can make one vulnerable and make it difficult to decide if you want to share it with him other.
I also like Nico's underwater scenes, not only because of the exposures, but because of how it was done artistically.
The fourth story introduces us to Elijah Filamor and Yam Mercado, both in their first homosexual character, although the latter had previously participated in the BL series 'Wheel of Love: Weekend to Remember', from 2021, in which he played Uno dela Cruz, and the first is remembered for giving life to Elijah in the films 'Alpha: The Right to Kill' (2019), by Brillante Mendoza, and Mom's boytoy in 'Double Twisting Double Back' (2018), by Joseph Abello.
Knowing each other from having worked on the film 'Best Partee Ever', it was much easier for Mercado as Cris, and Filamor as Renzo, to show a dynamic that ranges from cheesy romantic small talk to devastating foreplay full of hormones (and more) and high intensity fights.
The episode talks about confusion, worrying about others, fights and reconciliation, hurting and apologizing, tone down, crying, and its healing effects on people.
With a strong autobiographical character, the digital series 'Love at the End of the World' shows a part of Mark Shandii Bacolod as a person who loved, was hurt and decided to believe that another love will come his way.
As the Filipino director acknowledged to Manila Standard Entertainment in an exclusive interview: "The series is my love letter to the prudish public because I wanted to talk openly about sex. Let's admit it, everyone has a raging lust (…). The way we how we behave in public makes a difference.
The main idea that the series leaves me with is that even in the darkest moment in which one may be experiencing pain and suffering, there is hope, there is love.
I wouldn't define 'Love at the End of the World' just as a series, but more as a collection of quality short films that talk about love and all your inner desires in one boat.
Beyond the steamy scenes and lewd encounters between the characters, the series has more to offer.

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