I dare to say this drama is perfect. And I was stupid enough to almost not watch it. The hype was just too strong and so off putting.
WARNING: this is NOT a review for someone who has not seen the show. I just need to express all my thoughts somewhere.

So… Are you bored and tired of the “I’m not gay, I only like you” plot lines in BLs? How much do you wish some shows would address the hardship of coming out? The fear and confusion related to it? How much do you wish to see a well written, heartbreaking conflict that is not based on poorly written and ridiculous random jealousy? How much do you wish to see well written supporting female characters, whose whole arc is not just “I ship two cute boys together”? You get all of that and more in Like in the Movies.

The story revolves around the exploration of sexuality and identity. What makes us who we are? How much should we compromise between who we are, want to be and who others want us to be? How to react when you are both pulled back in line and pushed out of it by people you love and care about? How to make a relationship work when one person has already finished the race, but the other is not even on the track yet? Each character represents a different story, different perspective and different point of view. Their actions might make us angry, sad, heartbroken, happy or annoyed, but we see the reasoning behind what they do. We might disagree, but we understand. And this just proves how good of a writing quality Like in the Movies presents. There are no silly villains, nor over the top crazy exes or evil parents. There are just people. Real people with flaws, fears, hopes and dreams.

“Don’t be scared of the word. You can say it. I don’t mind”.

Vlad was an emotional fluff that spoke the truth and gave everyone some real lessons. I cried because of the words he had spoken. He showed how much being an educator can accomplish. Knowing Karl has no bad intentions, he was willing to explain everything to him, was patient, but firm about his views. As someone who would rather sit down and explain things over getting defensive and offended myself, I truly appreciated and loved that about Vlad. Of course, it was not his responsibility to guide Karl, but his understanding approach just impressed me. Communication is the key, not only in romantic relationships, but also any type of social interactions. He didn’t play mind games, spoke what he thought and felt and it was up to others to accept it or not.

His story is also truly heartbreaking. It shows how stigma and homophobia in a society can shape the way we see and interpret situations, especially at a young age. In the past, he associated every negative and bad action of people around him as a result of him being gay, even if it was not true. But the truth is often meaningless. It’s the perception that matters. It’s the perception that guides your thoughts and feelings. And, like in Vlad's case, it takes years to look at the situation from a different perspective. If society did not present being gay as something bad, Vlad would never assume his dad left because of that. He would never assume his mom was against his relationship because she did not want her son to be gay.
Vlad represents someone who fully accepted himself. Who is proud about his identity and does not want to hide it. Who, after facing so much hurt and struggle, does not waver. Who wants to proudly give and receive love. Who just wants to be happy.

“I don’t know if I’m like you. I don’t even know who I am”

Karl never had a chance to explore who he was. He lived for his brother. He lived as his brother. Getting away from the expectations put on him by his family, allowed him to slowly learn about himself. And it was scary. It was unfamiliar. It felt great when he didn’t think about it, but you cannot shut the thoughts out for eternity. You need to face them one day, but if that day comes too fast, if you are not ready… that can break you. Or push you even more into a corner. And that’s what happened with Karl. External circumstances forced him to face it when he was not ready, when he felt emotionally confused and vulnerable.

He was brave enough to tell his parents about his dream, about the goal of switching majors, about his will to chase his dreams. It was a tough decision to make and required a lot of strength. The aftermath of his decision was still unknown to him, and yet others expected him to do it again. To face the expectations of his parents. To rebuild the identity he had so far, to completely reevaluate how he thought about himself. No time to think, no time to accept, just expected to act accordingly. But he deserved that time. He deserved a minute to explore and get accustomed to who he was. Coming out should have been his decision, that he made on his own terms, in the time that he felt comfortable about.

“But I just don’t know how to get to you (...). I’m still navigating through this.”

Judit represents what happens when driven by guilt, you go from one extreme to the other. She is clearly close to being paranoid and definitely overprotective over Vlad. Taking into consideration the pain she caused him in the past with the words she said, now she does everything she can to save Vlad from disappointment and heartbreak. And she definitely crosses the line doing so.

She acts as a fake ally persona, which is closer to fujoshi. Not knowing the full story and observing her behavior in the first two episodes, one could assume she is another crazy female character without depth who just ships all the guys that are in close proximity (flashbacks to Zol and her “shipping my brother and writing stories about it” behavior). But then, with episode six we get a complete shift of the perspective and actual explanation for her action.

While I still didn’t like her overpowering and overbearing presence, I understood where it came from. As Judit said: she is still navigating through it. It’s obvious her and Vlad never seriously talked about the situation, the past and how to move forward. During that episode she faced her mistakes for the first time, she apologized for the first time. Before that she did what she thought was correct, not what actually would be helpful. As always kids, communication is the key. But even after that confrontation, she still does not completely change her ways. And it’s frustrating, but also realistic. You cannot just change who you were for years after one honest conversation. It takes time, it takes others pointing out your mistakes countless times. Talking with Vlad was a great start. But it was just a start. All the hard work is still ahead of her.

“I don’t want to blame her one day for all the time that I have lost for myself”.

One could say that statement and Anna “running away” from her child is selfish, but it’s the opposite of that. She is not giving up on her kid, but she is not willing to give up on herself too. She is a mother, a great one, who raised her child alone for years, but she is also just Anna, a woman that needs time for herself. Need time to chase her dream, to live and have fun. How could she make her child happy and encourage her to work hard if she gave up on herself? Words are not enough, you need to be a true model for your child. And that’s what she is doing. Feelings are not something we can control. She can love her child with all her heart, but still have these small “what ifs” creeping and poisoning the relationship and bond they have. What if I didn't have her? Where would I be? Who would I be? Would I be happier? Would I be more successful? What would my life look like? The thoughts that we have no control over. So yes, Anna is a badass person and an amazing mother. Even though she is just a supporting character, she also tells an important story that brings more value to the series itself.

Moving away from the characters, I have to admit something: this show slapped me across my dumbass face quite a few times and I’m glad it did. I like to think I’m not one to judge and jump to conclusions (especially negative ones) quickly, and this drama showed me I’m not quite there yet.

It started with the opening scene and my “glorious” thought “wow… way to start a BL with a cliche of 2 pretty guys dancing in random pretty location”. Boy, I was wrong, and when we finally got to see the full scene in episode five, I just felt stupid. It was not “just cliche”, it had powerful messages and quite an impact. “Maybe that’s why it’s such a big deal to me because it’s just a small thing and I still got deprived of it” is quite honestly one of my favorite lines, one of the most impactful, and one that represents well how twisted and wrong the world is.

Another moment that hit me hard was the Judit and Vlad’s conversation I already mentioned. I truly thought she was just hyped fujoshi and there is nothing more to it. And yet again, I have been wrong and I felt stupid for jumping to a conclusion when nothing was even presented to me to validate my position. Don’t know if these two moments say more about me or the BLs as part of the entertainment industry. I was fed poorly written female characters and cliche plot lines for so long, sometimes it’s hard to have higher expectations.

Another thing I loved about Like In The Movies: it had big brain energy. It has been just clever and not a second of screen time was wasted. All the small interactions and details were meaningful and I’m legit too dumb to even notice them all. I just loved how scenes, interactions, small behaviors connected and were explained at different parts of the story. Vlad not liking people touching his hair? Far more than “just because he doesn’t like it”. Small details like that, turned out to have such an emotional and deep root for them. Vlad finishing a scary story with the “corpse in the closet” idea, and then he finds a photo of Karl’s brother in the closet, thinking it’s Karl. Truly big brain energy. There were many moments when I went ”damn… that’s why they showed it a few episodes ago”. Everything connects and everything has a meaning and I’m about to cry from happiness overwhelmed by this perfection.

Now, let’s talk about music. I am not an ost person. Unless the soundtrack is truly outstanding or truly bad, I don’t pay that much attention to it. Here we have the case of “truly outstanding”. Each song was beautiful. They were perfectly fitting for the moments and scenes they were playing for. The lyrics were just the cherry on top of this beautiful cake that brought me to tears. This is ALSO the case of big brain energy.

You know what else is big brain energy? The credit scenes! I’m amazed. Truly. You can tell how much care and thought was put into this show when they decided to even use the credits as a way to convey the message, describe the relationship and its progression. As I said, not a second was wasted. There were no fillers. No line wasted. Everything was crafted perfectly to give us this masterpiece, with quotes at the end of the episodes being the dot at the end of the sentence. Tying it all together, leaving us hopeful, emotional and grateful.

Though this will never be seen by anyone involved in the production, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. This was an amazing, emotional and engaging journey that will stay with me forever. I cared for the characters deeply, as if they were truly my friends. I cried, laughed and screamed with anger. Thank you for making me this emotional mess.