Like Denied Love, Us is a 2025 GL offering from Thailand. The story follows Pam, a dental student, and Dokrak, a young woman estranged from her family and struggling to support herself so that she can live independently. The attraction between the two is apparent in the first episode and the directly gives the story time to develop their relationship organically. The standout feature of Us is the mutual trust and respect of the lovers, their support and patience with each other, and the avoidance of contrived conflicts - there are conflicts, of course, owing to family relationships, circumstances beyond the control of the lead characters. There's a lot of character development all around for both the main leads, the second couple, and strong supporting characters.
Us is a refreshingly intelligent script brought to life by exciting new couple paring, Emi / Bonnie. What sets Us apart in a lakhorn styled, angst heavy genre is the nuance and rare common sense of a script that avoids melodramatic predictability and employs common romantic tropes with a fresh perspective.
A grieving Pam (Emi Thasorn Klinnium) is pulled into a revenge plot with Nene (Mim Rattanawadee Wongthong), a mysterious manipulator with an underlying vulnerability, until she finds herself in growing sympathy with the brother and sister who are supposed to be her targets, Kawi (Sing Harit Cheewagaroon) and Dokrak (Bonnie Pattraphus Borattasuwan), to whom Emi is particularly drawn. There is compelling chemistry developing between Pam and Dokrak and a strong core ensemble supporting cast, including experienced Thai GL/BL actor View Benyapa Jeenprasom as Oat, whose character serves as both a catalyst for the telling of characters' backstories and one half of the 2nd romantic pair, and industry veteran Nid Sansanee Wattananukul, who plays Emi's grandmother, a source of unconditional love and good humor that contrasts sharply with the cold and violent family crucible that damaged Kawi, Dokrak, and Nene in the past and still threatens their future.
Instead of getting tangled up in contrived misunderstandings and bad faith subterfuge, the script gives room for the characters to develop, make mistakes, face their fears, and come together in a compassionate exploration of trust, friendship, healing, forgiveness, found family, and lasting passion.
A grieving Pam (Emi Thasorn Klinnium) is pulled into a revenge plot with Nene (Mim Rattanawadee Wongthong), a mysterious manipulator with an underlying vulnerability, until she finds herself in growing sympathy with the brother and sister who are supposed to be her targets, Kawi (Sing Harit Cheewagaroon) and Dokrak (Bonnie Pattraphus Borattasuwan), to whom Emi is particularly drawn. There is compelling chemistry developing between Pam and Dokrak and a strong core ensemble supporting cast, including experienced Thai GL/BL actor View Benyapa Jeenprasom as Oat, whose character serves as both a catalyst for the telling of characters' backstories and one half of the 2nd romantic pair, and industry veteran Nid Sansanee Wattananukul, who plays Emi's grandmother, a source of unconditional love and good humor that contrasts sharply with the cold and violent family crucible that damaged Kawi, Dokrak, and Nene in the past and still threatens their future.
Instead of getting tangled up in contrived misunderstandings and bad faith subterfuge, the script gives room for the characters to develop, make mistakes, face their fears, and come together in a compassionate exploration of trust, friendship, healing, forgiveness, found family, and lasting passion.
Rollercoaster poses the delicate question of whether you should open your heart for a new love or wait for your first love despite the pain it causes.
It follows Pure whose first love Air was forced to marry a man despite her wishes due to family pressure and financial strain over her family due to ger father's untimely death. This leaves Pure with a broken heart but she still holds the flame for Air even after three years and waits for her to come back to her.
Around the time when Air is finally about to break free from her unhappy marriage, Pure meets a young, carefree woman named Loft who gives her a taste of what love could be like, without all the pain and suffering by showing up everytime it counts. This leaves Pure in a dilemma as she's neither able to let go of her past love or truly open her heart to Loft, who by a twist of fate turns out to be her ex's sister in law.
The story despite sounding dramatic, manages to portray the dilemmas and heartbreaks in a very nuanced manner. It includes fantastic actors with a very talented crew who are mostly women and it shows on the screen.
Give it a try and you wont regret it!!
It follows Pure whose first love Air was forced to marry a man despite her wishes due to family pressure and financial strain over her family due to ger father's untimely death. This leaves Pure with a broken heart but she still holds the flame for Air even after three years and waits for her to come back to her.
Around the time when Air is finally about to break free from her unhappy marriage, Pure meets a young, carefree woman named Loft who gives her a taste of what love could be like, without all the pain and suffering by showing up everytime it counts. This leaves Pure in a dilemma as she's neither able to let go of her past love or truly open her heart to Loft, who by a twist of fate turns out to be her ex's sister in law.
The story despite sounding dramatic, manages to portray the dilemmas and heartbreaks in a very nuanced manner. It includes fantastic actors with a very talented crew who are mostly women and it shows on the screen.
Give it a try and you wont regret it!!
