MONEYBOYS: A Review by Sofia Migaly
In honor of Pride Month, this is the third installment of our weekly Reeling Pride Month Film Showcase presented by MUBI. We are also celebrating the upcoming 41st edition of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival.
Thanks to MUBI we are thrilled to present the universally critically acclaimed MONEYBOYS, accompanied by the short film AMIHAN, by local Kansas-City based filmmaker and previous guest on …Like Clockwork (A Podcast of Chicago Filmmakers), Ji Stribling.
Don’t forget to take advantage of MUBI’s exclusive 30-day free-trial offer at www.mubi.com/reeling
C. B. Yi’s MONEYBOYS (2021) follows city-dwelling hustler Fei (Ko Chen-tung) as he works to support both himself and his family in the countryside. After a family reunion gone wrong, Fei realizes his relatives will never accept his sexuality and returns to the city to start anew. However, guilt from his past, longing for his first love, and new heartbreak plague Fei as he struggles to heal.
MONEYBOYS is stunning both visually and emotionally. Inventively framed and richly colorful cinematography perfectly captures the attention-grabbing performances of Ko Chen-tung, Yufan Bai, and Zhexi Lin. Yi expertly crafts a contemplative, slow rhythm, unfolding in powerful waves of grief, love, and pain.
Yi poses uncomfortable questions about the place of sex work within repressed societies. The film deeply explores the queer experience, the feeling of being ‘othered’, and the places (or people) in which we find acceptance and belonging.
A review by Sofia Migaly
