Moneyboys (2021)

There are three quite solid performances at the heart of this comparatively sex-free sex drama, as we follow the life of “Fei” (Kai Ko). He has left his rural village and headed to the town so he can earn some money to send back to his mother. As the film’s title suggests, he finds a fairly unorthodox method of doing that and that doesn’t go down so well with his family. Despite a few flirtations with the authorities, business is generally good for this attractive young man until he alights on the naive young “Long” (Yufan Bai) who is keen on entering this trade but is also very keen on “Fei”. Meantime, we are introduced to “Xiaolai” (J.C. Lin) who has history with “Fei” this is complex and, as yet, incomplete. With choices to make, and none of them simple, it now falls to “Fei” to try to navigate his way through a pretty complex set of relationships without causing too much collateral damage. It’s a slow-burn for much of it’s two hours duration, but the last half hour does bring the threads together quite poignantly as the young man has to come to terms with his sexuality and it’s hitherto essential repression whilst his childhood friend, now married, has a minefield of his own to negotiate and finally, there is the vulnerable young “Long” who is quite possibly in the same situation as “Fei” was when he was younger and more desperate. Though the sex industry provides the backdrop, it isn’t intrusive or even very prominent in the characterisations. Sure, some of the clients do actually feel they are innocent with “Fei”, but essentially the film looks at his own inability to embark on any meaningful relationship of his own. Does he actually want to live his life to the full, or does he prefer to exist behind a convenient shield of internet anonymity and casual shagging? Some of the scenes between “Fei” and “Long” are emotionally intense, scripted with an effective paucity and they do elicit a sense of affection that both actors deliver delicately. It’s a love story, of sorts, but will there be any happy endings?