A multimillion baht house with beautiful actors working for the same company, thriving on the drama they can create in each other’s lives, is the setting for “House of Stars”. The show is a twelve episode drama surrounding the residents of the house, all of whom follow the strict house rules only when it suits them. The series moves like a spider interconnecting the characters like flies to the web of need that the house owner Miss Susie (Rudklao Amratisha) weaves. Offering rewards like fame, money, opportunities and access to the other actors for sex of romance (passively, as she has hidden cameras everywhere in the house and uses them to manipulate the actors).

It was an ambitious idea, with strong actors playing the roles but by the end, it didn’t satisfy the promises the various storylines and their conflicts created. There will be spoilers, so if you don’t want them. Turn back and skip to the end for my 2 out of 5 stars review. In a house full of horny actors of both genders, sex is a given. The amount of bed hopping that certain characters do lack common sense or feel like it’s a normal occurrence in the house. The show relies on sex scenes to create emotional significance for certain characters, which felt superficial and sometimes worked for characters who didn’t get much screen time with their clothes on. But in other cases, it felt like a toxic vacuum sucking up valuable screen time.

This was the case for the effeminate gay Pawin (Double Tupthep) and for the beautiful but untalented Mintra (Oaey Ponchonak). With both of them snipping verbally at each other over the roles they got and the frequency at which they worked, these two threw shade and insults at others like Zeus with his thunderbolts. But unfortunately their most concise and prominent role in the series was being Korn’s (New Akaravin) lovers, an in the closet bisexual (I guess the show decided not to embellish on that plot line so he was never defined properly).

When the series starts, Korn is publicly and personally paired with Mintra. The two seem to be exempt from the no love/fornication rule, as they have sex in various places in the house. Something that Pawin watches and masturbates to occasionally. I do appreciate the boldness behind displaying sex so casually and building the pressure for Korn, who is being manipulated by Mintra. It became clear by episode two he was using sex as a means to shut her up when her vapid and controlling statements pushed him too far towards anger. The two, along with Pawin, begin a love triangle throughout the series as Korn is seduced by Pawin, while Mintra is out.

The series focuses on their private lives over their acting roles or actual work, like Wayha (Heng Thatpong) and Wayu (Namchok Thanon). Their storyline centers around the fact that the new actor Wayha has an accent that makes his dialogue delivery almost unbearable to casting directors and he has not been cast in anything. Wayu, a more seasoned actor, starts as a supportive friend to him, but it’s clear he has a crush on the young actor. With dismissal looming on the horizon, if Wayha doesn’t get a role; he decides to take the man under his wing to teach him how to speak better. Their romance was one of the storylines that came and went through the series as the two actors are seen evolving as characters, which I am not gonna lie was actually very nice to see. Many times in ensemble cast dramas, the pacing is lopsided as the series focuses on certain characters over others. That does happen in this series, but not to these two as they appear in almost every episode.

Unfortunately, the same doesn’t happen for the rest of the cast like the slow burn romance between Pitch (Leo Sirapob) and Gun (Pepo Nutchapan). Pitch is like Wayha in a lot of ways, he is relatively new to the business, seems to have lucked by starring on a show with Zo (Boss Pornpipat), which has become an instant success. But it is also clear, thanks to Pawin’s bitchy insulting in episode one, that Pitch has no real acting skills on his own. Like Wayha, he seeks help from the senior actor in the house, Gun.

Stern and quiet Gun is the opposite of the friendly and outgoing Zo. But over the course of the show, as both interact with Pitch, they both have feelings for him. Though I did enjoy the script for the show, I did not appreciate the random way Gun popped up in the series. As the most popular and successful actor of the house, his personal life was pretty shadowed. That being said, when he did appear, he always had a significant role in the episodes. Like Wayu and his junior, Gun does turn Pitch into a better actor through his tutorage, while Gun developing romantic feelings for the man, much to Zo’s annoyance.

The side characters have as much significance as the main, though that is unique to the character. Like Lalit (Katang Niranara) starts off as Zo and Pitch’s stalker until she is caught by Susie who repurposes her to stalk Pitch and Gun instead. Because of the change of focus, the validity of Lalit’s character fades as does the writing relative to her character. It’s as she plateaus after being violent towards Gun, who she believes is ruining her favorite ship (Pitch and Zo).

Unfortunately, other side characters were not given the same level of attention or plot, which I felt in the end was a disservice to the series. Such as Host (Mie Nannapas), who seems to be attracted to Mintra (in the way she treats her and dots on her) that would have been interesting to explore; only because Mintra expresses homophobic tendencies. The other manager seems to have a fondness for Gun, which was something the show could embellished on if it mattered. The largest side character plot hole was Miss Susie’s son herself, Sun. The boy appears late season with shocking results in the form of nothing. His presence frightens Host, but it’s never said why. Miss Susie tells him to stay out of the way but is obviously rattled by the boy. He smirks a lot, talks to no one but Zo and just enjoys the antics of the housemates as a whole.

Ironically, he is instrumental in his mother’s death by planting the seed about her allergy, and messing with Zo’s head. Miss Susie’s random back story who literally just ran the world’s messiest acting business didn’t hit my feelings. As she was never given adequate screen time to see any of her meddling come to fruition. Honestly, the show seems to lose the plot half way and resorts to random sex scenes and mini dramas among the favorite characters at that moment in time while the rest of the cast just stands around looking lost.

The ambitious show would have been a monumental experience if it took itself more seriously. Instead, it seems to revel in the mini dramas that don’t get conclusions as most are forgotten by the end, or we are left to infer conclusions. Lalit is turned into the new manager while Gun is railroaded by the paparazzi when Zo seeks revenge for his brother with his master plan. Honestly, if this woman has been sending dead animals in boxes to Gun, why did Host think that Lalit would be a worthy replacement?

Pitch accepting Gun’s love confession after ten episodes of slow burn cuteness for maybe 5 minutes of screen time (excluding the dream scene) crashes quickly as the actor who played Pitch was not present in the finals episodes, save for flashbacks and prerecorded phone conversations. This was a personal let down as they were one of the main reasons I watched the show. Pitch is seeing his ailing mother when Gun’s taped confession of hitting Zo’s brother plays at an award ceremony, this being the conclusion of the series was pretty atrocious. With that open ending cliff hanger and no announcement for Season Two renewal, I feel I wasted my time.

Pick and choose which characters and ships to root for as the series weaves around you and randomly shows scenes from each character for moments.

Rating- 2 out of 5 stars

Streaming on- IQIYI