Double Exposure (2024)

Good but more soft pay gorn instead!

I've been watching this and it's great movie i can tell. The actor is giving me intense vibes that it's like a real. I barely understand what they talking about because the sub is unclear and probably kinda wrong tho but honestly is best soft pay gorn movie i ever watch. The tension, the feeling they gave, the expression between main lead is so generous and genuine, love it. I just think that this movie is so short so it cannot delivering meaning of this movie( especially they focused on s3x or intimate scene ). It's pretty good and i do enjoy it, the main lead also had nice body features and act like actual one when do intimate scene, so it's really interest me a lot. Hopefully they make the full series so that the story is clever and clear ...

That's it, 9/10 from me!!

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Potential

It's not an entirely new story but it is an interesting take. I remember seeing a similar movie years ago with a similar plot. I think the biggest problem with this movie is the writing, or lack thereof. I can't blame the actors for a lackluster performance when they aren't given much to work with. Sandwiched between the NC scenes are what I assume is supposed to be "plot" but it doesn't contribute anything. It probably would have been better marketed as just soft porn. The NC was good in the way it was realistic for how gay sex is. The potential lies in how it can influence other movies/dramas within the genre, but not on its own

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Trying too hard

It felt like the movie was trying too hard to be deep . When there arent any explicit scenes on the screen that take up a majority of the attention, all we get is monotonous and dull dialogue that points to some overarching metaphor that they try to pull in. Its okay to put out a purely trashy naughty film, but nope gotta also sprinkle in some artsy meaning in to the film...I guess? Starting from that odd dialogue when Myeong Seon meets Gi Jun for the first time and the discussion oddly goes to hands. What did you notice about me? My hands? You studied my hands? Then Myeong Seon compares Gi Jun's hands to that painting from da Vinci. And then all the hyperfixation of hands begins. Camera angles at Gi Jun's hands getting undressed and dressed. Hands clenching and unclenching in nervousness. He uses his hands nervously to cover his nakedness but Myeong Seon constantly tells him to put his hands away repetitively during the photoshoot. When Myeong Seon is on top of him to get a head shot of Gi Jun's face, he flicks his hand away from the shot. Myeong Seon had mentioned previously that he doesnt heavily edit his photos. It's supposed to be natural. But all we are seeing is dictated postures. Towards the end of the movie they hit you over the head with a close up of Mona Lisa's hands, the infamous painting he mentioned at the start. You can know a lot about a person from the hands. Gi Jun's hands is soft like the painting he says. But Myeong Seon chooses to ignore it and flicks it away and that's how he treats their affair. He does not care if Gi Jun is already in a relationship with someone else. He is aloof and mean and he knows it and purposefully so. He chooses to keep a distance and tries not to get too involved. At the end of the movie when he tries to look for a photo of Gi Jun and finds it tucked away in a book, you can tell it is heavily edited. Blemishes are erased. It isnt natural but posed. When Myeong meets Gi Jun's look-alike, Jung Hyun, you can tell he has regrets now that the roles are reversed. This man looks like Gi Jun but he is strong in personality and demeanor. He is not soft. The professional camera isnt used on this look-alike. You see Myeong Seon using a 35mm film camera when he unexpectedly runs into a sleeping Jung Hyun in the woods taking candor shots of the "fake" Gi Jun. Myeong Seon is also shown using a poloraid to get raw and imperfect instant photos of Jung Hyun passed out on their bed. When he gets intimate with Jung Hyun, it ocassionally shifts the camera to first person pov which hadnt happen before with Gi Jun when he was trying so hard to keep space and distance as photographer and subject. Perspective has changed as Myeong Seon is trying to reclaim those feelings. Then the mystery continues: Is Gi Jun and Jung Hyung the same person? Overall, it didnt matter to me cause I didnt care to know. All this got clouded by boring dialogue with not much effort with character development and a weak plot.

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A Double-Edged Exposure

Double Exposure (이중노출) is a Korean BL film released on October 18, 2024, on Heavenly, written and directed by Kim Min-wook and starring No Ji Hun as Myeong Seon, alongside Kim Sung Kyung as Gi Jun and Jeong Hyeon. The story revolves around Myung Seon, a photographer who crosses professional lines with his assistant’s boyfriend, Gi Jun, only to later encounter Jung Hyun, a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Gi Jun but has a starkly different personality. This meeting leads Myung Seon to wonder whether Gi Jun ever really left his life.

The premise is intriguing, but after watching Double Exposure multiple times, I found myself struggling to grasp the film’s underlying message. It seemed to be pushing for something profound, yet it often felt more confusing than deep. When it wasn't relying on explicit scenes, it shifted to dialogue that aimed to be meaningful but came off as dull and repetitive. It could’ve been a straightforward, sensual film, but it seemed compelled to inject an "artsy" significance, which fell flat.

One striking example is the film’s fixation on hands. When Myeong Seon first meets Gi Jun, they have an oddly philosophical exchange about hands, and Myeong Seon even compares Gi Jun’s hands to those in a da Vinci painting. From there, hands become a central motif—close-ups of hands unclenching, fidgeting, and being directed in stiff poses during the photoshoot. By the end, we're hit over the head with a close-up of the Mona Lisa's hands, underscoring this metaphor that felt overused and, frankly, unnecessary.

The characters themselves feel underdeveloped. Myeong Seon, aloof and distant, is well aware of his own cruelty but seems detached from the consequences of his actions. He chooses to treat Gi Jun as a fleeting muse, disregarding their affair’s moral complications. And yet, when he encounters Jung Hyun, Gi Jun’s stronger-willed doppelgänger, there’s a palpable shift. Suddenly, Myeong Seon abandons his polished professional camera for a rawer 35mm film camera and even a Polaroid, capturing Jung Hyun in unguarded, candid shots. The perspective changes subtly as he finds himself drawn closer to this version of Gi Jun.

Despite the intrigue around the “are they or aren’t they the same person” mystery, the weak plot and lack of character development overshadowed it for me. The film seemed bogged down by monotonous dialogue, leaving little space for meaningful growth.

That said, I can understand the appeal for some viewers. For those who appreciate a raw, artistic exploration of sensuality, it might feel refreshing. There's a sense of Japanese gay cinema’s influence throughout, and the natural portrayal of the male leads is unique for Korean film. It does take courage to create something with such unfiltered intimacy.

The twist was decent, and perhaps with more development, it could’ve packed a stronger punch. Nonetheless, if you’re curious, give it a go; you might find something in it that resonates more with you than it did with me.

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