The Blue Hour (2015)

This is my first movie comment. I felt compelled to write this review because many viewers and reviewers haven’t given this movie credit for how good it is primarily because they have a preconceived notion or expectation of what the movie is before watching it and feel unsatisfied at the end because they don’t fully understand it. If you think this story is a gay coming-out/love story or a horror movie the you’ve been badly misled but give it a chance and you’ll find it to be a pretty worthwhile watch.

I will admit that the first time I watched it I was confused as to what happened. Much like the movie the Sixth Sense this one made you think and required you to watch it a second time. The second time around it makes more sense. This is not your conventional horror movie or a gay coming of age love story. Think of it as the reaction of the mind because of horrors that it has to endure.

The title The Blue Hour is very significant to the meaning of the movie. The Blue Hour, also known as Onthakan, is the time between day and night; dream and reality; good and evil. This is where this movie lies.

My personal thoughts on what the movie means after watching it a second time. Don’t read the next section till you’ve watched the movie at least once,

The story is about Tam, a High School student who’s bullied at school and physically and mentally abused at home by his family for being gay. To escape, his mind creates an alter ego named Phum. The movie goes back and forth between Tam’s reality and dreams — hence the blue hour — with the majority of the movie in Tam’s dreams. Phum is strong, independent, self-aware and confident, traits that Tam doesn’t have. Phum essentially acts as the trigger (imagine that little devil on Tam’s shoulder) that unleashes the horrors that lie within Tam’s mind. Phum frees Tam sexually; makes him feel at peace with himself and who he is (any of their poolside chats and the rooftop scene); allows Tam to metaphorically see what his parents have taken away from him (the empty field with so much potential that became a garbage dump - Tam is accused of everything that is bad with their family, including being gay), rationalize murder to save himself (stuff that happens while he’s in the dump); and to learn how to mentally get away from it all (I think this is what the whole holding breath thing is, to be dead without being dead). The pool represents the dirty section of Tam’s mind. The random images that show up on the pool walls that look like images of people made from crap are manifestations of Tam’s problems specifically his family that keep on showing up no matter how hard he tries to remove them. Tam nearly drowning in the pool is essentially that, Tam drowning in his problems. Not sure what the meaning of Phum saving Tam from drowning means. However, after Phum saves and revives him, Tam admits that he can’t remember anything that happened - thereby admitting that he’s struggling between dreams and reality or maybe even good and evil thoughts. The gangsters, who Tam and Phum meet at the pool, are the manifestations of Tam rationalizing murdering his family and a willingness to give up parts of himself to do it - the whole negotiation and Phum listing all the things he’s willing to give up. The ending scene, Tam and Phum meet at a calm river representing Tam’s mind at peace and calm.

I too struggled with this movie at first. A second viewing with an open and objective mind will really make you appreciate the movie and its subtle complexities.

Gun and Oabnathi did a great job acting in this movie that you wanted to believe that they were “real” couple/friendship as opposed to just that little devil on Tam’s shoulder. Thats the genius of movies like this and the Sixth Sense.

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When I finish watching the film, my reaction was like; "huh, what happen?!", "who did this and who did that?!". I was just shocked by the ending but I really did not felt horrified nor scared.

I just really got curious of what really happened to the plot of the story so I basically watch the movie one more time and I just found out what this movie is all about though. lol :p

IDK if most of the people who watch this film for the first time felt the same way I had which is confusion.

OVERALL: T'was a great and unique movie I could say since it made me feel curious and had my urge to re-watch this film.

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Disturbing but so fascinating on a psychological / metaphysical level

I first watched this movie about two years ago. It is one that has stayed in my mind ... it is disturbing, somewhat provocative, fascinating, thought provoking and definitely metaphysical. I thought the production, the cinematography and acting were excellent. Altogether they did a wonderful job conveying with some pretty intense emotional states/events. It is a very loaded movie.

In short:
The movie takes you into Tam's life and into his state of mind. Both his real world and his mind are pretty horrific places. I wouldn't call the movie a romance by any long shot but there is definitely something "other worldly" and surreal about it. Tam's life is definitely not aspirational. His family constantly told him he was defective because he was gay, that he couldn't be trusted, that he needed to make them proud and care more for them, even though they couldn't care less about him. Having to live with that all your life and to then have the shit kicked out of you at school is enough to do anyone's head in.

Tam was literally caught between a rock and a hard place with no escape ... except to escape into his own mind ... it is his safe haven, but it is so distorted in there ... is what he sees in his mind a reflection of outside reality? Is the 'reality' outside the only 'real' reality ? ... is the 'reality' inside one's mind fake even though it is 'so real' to the owner of that mind ?. Tam's mental reality and the reality of the outside world is so blurry ... so much so that at the end of the movie, I think the only "real" things were Tam himself and the murder of Tam's family in the lounge room ... the rest ... well that is the proverbial metaphysical question isn't it ... which reality is the 'real' reality for Tam ?

More detailed:
The imagery / symbolism throughout the movie were very evocative and beautifully captured the essence of an altered mind state. There were quite a number of images/scenes that really left an impression on me (I have put the old "Spoiler" cover on as you may want to see the movie first) and influenced the conclusions I arrived out watching the movie:

(1) The algae on the pool walls and in the washroom - so many of them looked like human images to me ... it was kind of like a Rorschach ink blot test. Were these representatives of people in Tam's life? He tried to scrape off one ... I wondered who that might have represented to him ... his Father ... it was right in the centre of the pool wall? Towards the end in the washroom, I really thought the algae on the wall was Phum and as Tam walked back into the wall and rested next to it I thought wow ... is Phum even real? Was the pool facility some kind of giant Rorschach ink blot test for Tam?

(2) The clouds. The clouds in the movie were magnificent and there were a lot of scenes where they formed the major portion of the scene. There was one significant cloud panorama where this massive cloud had hidden the sun and all you could see were the striking crepuscular rays coming through ... it gave the impression that I was on the dark side of something and the light was trying to break its way through the clouds. Was this the case for Tam's mind?

(3) Looking up at the sky while underneath the water. Again this was fascinating ... like the clouds, the water was a barrier to being able to see clearly. Water is a distortion of light and therefore the images scene through it. Also all the waters that Tam sunk beneath were dirty - there were bits of muck floating around and mosquito larvae swimming about. I don't know about where you live but where I live Mosquito larvae are harbingers of disease e.g. Dengue, Ross River etc. Does all of this suggest a "diseased" perspective of Tam?

(4) The blue light. I think there is a connection with this blue light and the name of the movie. The blue hour is the period of twilight in the morning or evening when sun has dipped below the horizon and the sunlight becomes a blue shade of colour due to "Rayleigh Scattering". People who have spiritual beliefs say that the "blue hour" is the moment between dreams and awakening. It is also known medically that blue light affects/has caused depressive moods in people. That is why the medicos advise to have less screen time before you sleep and why companies like Apple have an option to decrease blue light emission on phones etc. So was most of the movie just a strange dream in Tam's mind? Was there any part of it that was real? Which lead me to the next point ...

(5) The Fight Club. Because of all of the above elements, I thought of the protagonist in the Hollywood Film "The Fight Club". Was Tam the equivalent of Edward Norton's character and Phum was the equivalent of Brad Pitt's character?

At the end of the movie, I think Phum was imaginary. I think the only "real" things in the movie were Tam himself and the murder of Tam's family in the lounge room. His family constantly told him he was defective because he was gay, that he couldn't be trusted, that he needed to make them proud and care more for them even though they couldn't care less about him.

Having to live with that all your life and to then have the shit kicked out of you at school is enough to do anyone's head in. He was literally caught between a rock and a hard place with no escape ... except to escape into his own mind ... and to get rid of the "ink blots" who had hurt and betrayed him so much when they should have loved and nurtured him and cared for him.

Aside from his most likely imaginary lover Phum, he could have developed a multiple personalities as well ? ... the one that kicked back against the oppression, the one who stole the Buddha, who stole the gun, maybe even one was the murderer?

Who knows. What we do know is the final scene of the movie ... he and Phum both sunk beneath the very dark waters of the river and looked up. Against the light of day, he saw bits of muck floating in the water ... mosquito larvae and the blurry images of the blue sky and clouds ... the delusion continues to be his 'safe haven'.

A fascinating film on a whole lot of levels.

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Firstly to explain the name of the title "THE BLUE HOUR" also known as "Onthakan" means time between both morning and night, the realm between dreams and reality, or good and evil.

The movie is actually I wouldn't say really scary unless you get terrified easily but it was very creepy like scary creepy and there is a scene that you must be careful of cause you may not be sleeping at night if you happen to be watching this at 8 o'clock at night, so yeah basically as it says it's a Horror movie.

I gave the acting cast a 7.0/10 because I've actually seen other movies with the main actors who's done a lot better job giving them 10/10 and I always rate with a 9.0 if it was really good because you never know when something else will come along and be just as good but if it amazed me to a point I had no choice then of course its a 10/10.

For the music I gave it a 1.0 because honestly I don't really recall their being any music until the very end sadly and I was looking forward well I'm always looking forward to music in horror movies that's just cause I'm weird.

I rated the story a 5.0/10 only because Phum was basically leading Tam to a dark place in life and that's not something anyone should be doing to somebody especially when they're going through what Tam has gone through.

Overall I gave it a 6.5/10 because I enjoy Horror movies and have a love hate relationship with them and this one was on more of the creepy scary side with a jump scare and I like things like that.

I hope this was helpful to those who haven't seen it yet

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I watched this film at 3AM. Yes, 3AM. And I shat my pants because I'm a massive wuss. Still, I'd recommend it.

I'm not a fan on any type of horror so the shift half way through had my anxiety sky rocketing. But I'm a guy that likes to finish what he starts so I watched it to the very end.

I feel like the music (or lack thereof) was incredibly suspenseful and had me hiding behind my hands in complete terror at what the protagonist was going to find next. I like the fact that it was just silent at some parts as it made the feel even creepier.

There was one scene that made me screech and cry like a banshee (I'll say it again- not a fan of horrors) which left me hiding behind my hands for the rest of the film singing the Go Compare advert to calm myself down.

I'd say if you want to watch this- be prepared. I knew it was gonna be creepy when I started but the film kinda makes you forget and then BAM you're pooing yourself. Needless to say I personally will probably not rewatch this film as I don't fancy crying in bed and messaging my friends at god awful times in the morning.

This review is all over the place I'm sorry it's 4AM and there are dried crusty tears on my face I'm a mess.

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I was intrigued with the reviews and low rating this movie got, so I need to watch it myself to know why.

STORY:

The story starts out okay. It's a coming of age with a hint of romance. As the story progresses, it goes deeper with the characters and plot. BUT, it can be very confusing. Don't expect the movie having a literal meaning and unravel the possibilities with your mind, because that will help you understand the story/plot. I give it a 6.5/10, because damn it's hard to catch up and figure everything out.

ACTING/CAST:

8/10! The two leads are awesome. The innocence and aggression is spot on. They have an amazing chemistry and if this was a normal BL, it would make people squeal. The only thing that bugs me is that their intention is a bit off (for me), I kept on asking WHY. Hopefully, you'll find out after watching this. But don't be discouraged, they sure are not amateur actors.

REWATCH VALUE:

4/10. The only reason why you should rewatch this is to indulge in its darkness and figure everything out. But for me, this is a one time watch type of movie.

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I feel like the point of the film was a little vague. Other than that it was visually excellent and had a dark, gritty feel and has some disturbing gore. The relationship between the two men is always surrounded by a dark atmosphere, and is generally the real suspense, you never know what's going to happen but you still keep speculating. Beautifully made and the script and the acting was on point. Gun especially, he got me completely invested in his character. The way he portrayed the role of a beaten down boy who's struggling everywhere in life suddenly finds a boy who is mysterious in some ways and brutally honest. Just like Gun he's also struggling.

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Very Avant-Garde and Misunderstood

To be sure it is a stream of consciousness movie of a troubled young gay boy. An allegory. If you observe it as a parable of his journey to discovery, albeit, dark and problematic, it will make a little more sense. If it does not, then simply drink in its utterly fascinating and captivating tale of the imagination and madness of a teenage boy. Admittedly, this movie is confusing and will require your complete attention or perhaps a second go-around. It is that complex. It is that deep and full of hidden meanings. To understand this movie, you need to understand its title. The blue hour is the time between sunrise or after sunset when the sun is low on the horizon and the sky takes on a soft blue color. It deserves to be reviewed more positively than it has.
See my full review at BLBliss.com.

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A Must Watch for Ardent Gun Atthaphan Fans

This is a serendipitous find and what a find it is. Sometimes one needs to go back in order to proceed forward. Admittedly, this is a movie that goes way back and by today’s standards in the BL world might be considered ‘old’ and maybe thought of as remote. Its reviews were less than stellar, which is incredulous, and I think based on a misunderstanding of what this movie was all about. I hesitate to reference it as a BL, however. More aptly, it certainly is a gay film. A gay film highlighted by elucidations from the inner thoughts of a mind of a tortured young gay boy, struggling with his ‘coming out.’ If you see it as that, it will have more meaning.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/08/01/the-blue-hour-movie-review/

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Shook to my core, but did very much enjoy it !!

When I first pressed play for this movie, I hadn't noticed the tag that said 'horror'- I just saw LGBT, Youth, and Psychological, so I thought "huh, this will be nice".
Now I don't normally get scared when watching horror movies or thrillers, in general, but the scene in the bathroom, about 1 hour and 20 into the movie, where the hands come from behind, I screamed. High pitched. And it was like 2 am, so not exactly ideal. I didn't finish the movie before 4 am, as I was quite too scared to keep going, but I knew I had to, otherwise, I'd probably have a nightmare. I'm not mad about this though. It was great and I haven't been scared like that in quite a long time.
The ending confused me quite a bit, but I think that's the psychological part of it, -to leave you thinking. And at times, I really had no idea what was going on, which only added to the horror part.
I really loved watching this movie, and I had such a rush after, but I probably won't watch it again, as I now know what happens and when the jump scares are.
10/10 in execution!

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