Why This Isn’t Just Another BL
GelBoys isn’t content to be just another Thai BL. It’s a cultural artifact, this series is a love letter to Gen Z’s chaotic heartbeat, filmed against the graffiti-tagged walls and skytrain tracks of Siam Square. With the creative team behind I Told Sunset About You and The Paradise of Thorns, it’s a low-budget revolution, proof that Thai BL can thrive beyond big studios.
The Aesthetic Revolution
1. Cinematic Language: French New Wave Meets BL
☆ Handheld Realism: GelBoys Director Boss Naruebet Kuno and cinematographer Tang Tawanwad Wanavit use mobile phone footage, natural lighting, and guerrilla-style street shooting to create a documentary-like intimacy. Scenes feel stolen, not staged—like catching strangers’ conversations on the BTS Skytrain.
☆ French New Wave Homage: Jump cuts, diegetic music (songs play from characters’ phones, not a score), and breaking the fourth wall (characters glance at the camera like Breathless). The scene where Fou4Mod spies on Chian through a TikTok live video is pure 2024 vérité.
☆ Color Grading Sorcery: The lab team’s photochemical processing unifies footage shot on different devices. Notice how golden-hour scenes at Erawan Shrine glow like Instagram filters, while nighttime shots in Siam Square alleyways drown in neon blues and pinks.
2. Siam Square as a Character
Location Symbolism: The series avoids tourist clichés—no Grand Palace postcards here. Instead:
MBK Center’s chaotic stalls = Fou4Mod’s tangled emotions.
Jim Thompson Museum’s quiet courtyards = Baabin’s hidden longing.
Street food vendors = The messy, fleeting rush of teenage love.
Sound Design: The hum of air conditioners, skateboard wheels, and Blackpink blasting from mall speakers roots us in Bangkok’s sensory overload.
The Crush Circle of Doom
Chian → Bua → Baabin → Fou4Mod → Chian
Fou4Mod (New Chayapak Tunprayoon)
☆ Archetype: The self-sabotaging gay disaster. Knows Chian’s using him but thinks “maybe if I get gel nails with him…”
☆ Actor Nuance: New’s micro-expressions (see I Promised You the Moon) make you feel the cringe when Fou4Mod Airdrops a love song to Chian mid-class.
☆ Lowlight: Using Baabin as revenge collateral—“This ain’t Disney, honey.”
Chian (Pide Monthapoom Sumonvarangkul)
☆ Archetype: The unintentional heartbreaker. His gel nails and coy smiles are weapons of mass destruction.
☆ Redemption: When he finally chases Fou4Mod through Siam Paragon, it’s 90s rom-com gold.
Baabin (PJ Mahidol Pibulsonggrama)
☆ Archetype: The “I’ll suffer quietly” best friend. His pixelated crying scene (shot on what looks like an iPhone 8) broke the BL Internet.
☆ Family Connection: Fun fact—his brother JJ played Thiu in Spare Me Your Mercy.
Bua (Leon Zech)
☆ Archetype: The attention-starved wildcard. His half-German backstory explains why he hoards crushes like limited-edition sneakers.
☆ Most Relatable Moment: Stalking Baabin’s LINE status while listening to “No-status Status”—“Are we friends? More? Less?”
The Soundtrack & Cultural Zeitgeist
☆ “No-status Status” by BUS: The series’ anthem of romantic limbo. Played during Fou4Mod’s nail-art revenge montage. A scene that weaponizes Y2K nostalgia (butterfly clips, frosted lip gloss).
☆ Gen-Z Rituals:
Airdropping memes as flirting.
Crying to Blackpink’s “Tally” after rejection.
Using nail art as emotional warfare (Chian’s black gel vs. Fou4Mod’s desperate glitter).
Why GelBoys Changes the BL Game
☆ No Straight-to-Gay Trope: Fou4Mod’s already out, struggling not with sexuality but choice—a refreshing pivot.
☆ Budget as Aesthetic: The DIY feel (shaky cameras, real locations) makes it feel closer to indie film than studio BL.
☆ Director Boss’ Signature: Fans of I Told Sunset About You’s visual poetry will spot his fingerprints everywhere—especially in the claustrophobic close-ups during arguments.
Final Verdict
Best For: Fans of GameBoys, Your Name Engraved Herein, or anyone who’s ever stalked a crush’s Spotify playlist.
Skip If: You need fluffy escapism. This is emotional warfare with gel polish.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (“GelBoys is so real it hurts.”)
Originally published on http://BoysLoveInsider.com. Article republished with permission. All credits go to the original author.
The BL Xpress 
I agree with the review, but have a difference of opinion that we know Fou4Mod’s sexualy identity. Like with real people, I don’t like to presume a character is this or that unless they make that declaration, which I don’t remember any of the characters doing.
We could presume Fou4Moud is bi or pan due to his relationship with Faifa, but for me, the visuals we saw of their interactions showed a boy that wasn’t in a sexual desire-based relationship, but rather a comfort-based one. After Chian, the idea of being in a “status relationship” was much more important than the relationship itself, so when Faifa also wouldn’t commit, he sabotaged it.
I would also hesitate to comment on Bua’s ethnicity. We might assume his mother is Thai and father is German, but it could also be that both of his parents are white, separated, dad ended up in Thailand working in the burgeoning pot industry with son in tow, remarried, and he now has a Thai step-mother. (Or some variation of that scenario.) I remember a scene that showed his chaotic family life, but I don’t think the viewer ever was given clarity about the details.
5 out of 5 for me for a series that was incredibly unique, always unpredictable and never boring.
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