EvaButNoApple

The movie starts as your typical love story... Boy meets girl, "accidently" using her ex's abandoned teddy bear(!), and then the young couple starts a conversation while walking the beautiful city of Shanghai.

The first minutes of the film feel a bit stiff, as the protagonists (both the characters and actors) have an awkward energy between them.

But as the movie continues you get to really enjoy the effortless chatting, the little jokes and the evolution of their chemistry.

The sceneries and places they visit become more and more interesting, giving you an authentic glimpse of Shanghai.

The comparison to Linklater's Before trilogy is inevitable. But you will get to see that the energy and conversations between this couple, are completely different.

Linklater's heroes are having an intellectual ping pong talking about "heavy" meanings, giving you an impressive to read list.

Here, Panos and Jinxi get to know each other in an a more effortless, honest and sweet manner that doesn't feel like a swordfight.

The relationship the two former strangers create is romantic but also surprisingly realistic and truthful.

At the end, this film leaves you with a bittersweet taste, a mind filled with gorgeous images and the OST's calming melody... It is the perfect viewing for an open cinema these hot summer days.

Most movies are not considered a mastepiece. They are light and sound to entertain us, to make us forget the moments we are actually living. But some of them, just a tiny percentage becomes memorable to us and actually manages to make us feel and be immersed . And these movies are the ones that we consider masterpieces. But what tells them apart from the rest? It is not the beautiful actors, the fancy costumes they wear or the beautiful words they speak. It is the attention in to the tiniest details that give the movies the breath of reality. The feelings, the smells, the textures so vividly remain in my mind like i was the one experiencing them. I dont care if this was a love story between gay men or siblings or Romeo and Juliet. It felt true and intence and this is what matters the most.