Each of the four story plots were common themes fairly realistically presented. A very young boy gets "outted" to fellow students, school authorities and parents after he gets touchy-feely with a male cousin. A couple, one of whom is out and public about being gay, while the other is closeted and fearful of public exposure, deal with the conflicts their differences create between them. An elderly married man becomes fascinated with a straight hustler who is looking to raise money for a trip north to join his family. A long- term couple, one of whom has become disenchanted with their relationship, deal with a possible break up.
The story about the young boy and his parents is pretty straight forward, but lacks any depth or any originality. The resolution really only involves the father coming to terms with his son's apparent nature, and that resolution is particularly shallow and trite.
The story about the older man who (suddenly?) feels attracted to, actually obsessed about, another man he encounters in a steam room also seems a little hard to fathom as presented. One gets the impression that this is his first venture outside his marriage and his fidelity to wife and family. I suppose that's possible. The idea of someone coming out or acting upon a suppressed desire fairly late in life is a popular one in movies and television. But in this case, the one encounter appears to be a sufficient expression of that desire, followed by a return to the "traditional" wife and family as if the one experience satisfied the urge for all time. And exactly why the older man felt the need for the hustler to anonymously attend his award ceremony is a little baffling. Not saying it couldn't happen, but I never felt the rationale for it was established (the recording I watched had somewhat erratic audio and subtitles, so maybe I just missed it).
The other two stories seemed more complete and realistic to me, although their resolutions were a little too happily-ever-after and neatly packaged.
It is definitely worth watching, but possibly there was an attempt to achieve too much in too short a time. Maybe two or three moons would have allowed for a little more depth rather than all four moons at one go.
The story about the young boy and his parents is pretty straight forward, but lacks any depth or any originality. The resolution really only involves the father coming to terms with his son's apparent nature, and that resolution is particularly shallow and trite.
The story about the older man who (suddenly?) feels attracted to, actually obsessed about, another man he encounters in a steam room also seems a little hard to fathom as presented. One gets the impression that this is his first venture outside his marriage and his fidelity to wife and family. I suppose that's possible. The idea of someone coming out or acting upon a suppressed desire fairly late in life is a popular one in movies and television. But in this case, the one encounter appears to be a sufficient expression of that desire, followed by a return to the "traditional" wife and family as if the one experience satisfied the urge for all time. And exactly why the older man felt the need for the hustler to anonymously attend his award ceremony is a little baffling. Not saying it couldn't happen, but I never felt the rationale for it was established (the recording I watched had somewhat erratic audio and subtitles, so maybe I just missed it).
The other two stories seemed more complete and realistic to me, although their resolutions were a little too happily-ever-after and neatly packaged.
It is definitely worth watching, but possibly there was an attempt to achieve too much in too short a time. Maybe two or three moons would have allowed for a little more depth rather than all four moons at one go.