Coming-of-Age Clichés Are Aplenty in ‘In A Moment’

BL Recaps Germany

2023-08-16
10:50

‘In a Moment’ introduces us to Max (played by Björn Jochum), a shy and reserved teenager who loves music and playing his guitar. On the first day of classes, the newbie Max gets seated next to a girl named Anna. The two quickly hit it off with each other with Anna accompanying Max in between classes.

Before going to their next class, Max spots a poster for an open mic concert at school. A boy from his class, Leon (played by Aaron Rufer), approaches him then and asks him if he’s interested in joining. Max shyly answers “Maybe” which prompts Leon to ask what instrument he plays. Max answers that he plays the guitar and that he sings a bit too. Leon comments that he bets girls are into that. Max answers that he doesn’t know, but asks Leon if he’s into music. Leon replies that he’s not, he’s only a sports guy, specifically basketball. Anna joins them and Leon quickly waves goodbye stating basketball practice as his reason but not before telling Max that he will be looking forward to hearing his song. Once he leaves, Anna and her friend sigh dreamily at Leon, commenting about how hot he is but it’s a pity because Leon is not into girls. Ah, the hot gay guy in school.

At home, Max gets asked about his first week at his new school by his dad, Christian. Christian asks if the girls are nice there which makes Max choke on his food. After recovering, he answers a prompt “They are nice” before changing the topic to the open mic. His parents encourage him to play, especially Christian who thinks maybe he’ll finally find a girl there. Christian shares that at his age, he’s already had three girlfriends (good for you, I guess?). Max is visibly upset but luckily, his father gets sidetracked by a soccer match playing on the television.

Max’s mother, Sabine, on the other hand, notices Max’s expression and asks him if he’s okay. Max says that it’s nothing but Sabine tells him that that’s just how his father is. She reassures him that he’ll find a girl when the time is right. Max starts to tell her about something but gets interrupted by his dad’s enthusiastic shouting about the match. When his mom asks him to continue though, Max just says it’s nothing and excuses himself to bed.

Later, Leon phones their house looking for Max, and ends up talking to Sabine. She tells him that he has gone to bed early and then bid him goodbye. Christian asked who it was and she tells him that it was Max’s classmate, Leon, whose mom she knows from yoga class. Sabine comments that she’s a tough woman, with her being fiercely defensive about her son. Christian asks why and she answers that it’s because Leon is gay. Christian says that that’s tough and she asks why, when your own child’s happiness is what matters the most anyway? Christian starts to retort but gets distracted by the soccer match.

Watch ‘In A Moment’ on GagaOOLala.

At school the next day, Anna and Max are busy watching a basketball practice, specifically Simon whom Anna has a date. Anna’s problematizing what she’ll wear but Max assures her that she’s pretty no matter what she wears. Just then, Leon bumps into another guy. Leon attempts to help him stand up but gets rudely told off, with the other guy calling him a “faggot” which shocks Max. Simon gets mad but before a fight could break out, Leon pacifies him and asks them to go back to the game. Anna comments that she doesn’t understand how someone could still think that way in this day and age. Max seems startled.

Afterward, in the music room, Max gets busy playing the song he wrote. His teacher, David, walks into him and asks about his music. Max says it’s not very good because he doesn’t know what to write about. David then advises him to write about what he thinks and feels. David tells him that the first song he wrote about was for a girl which turned out bad in retrospect. But David says he didn’t regret it because it’s good to express himself regardless of how people would react.

Moments later, Max gets invited to practice hoops with Leon and Simon. Together, the three have fun with Leon even patting Max on the shoulder for playing well. At times, the two would be too close to each other as Leon guards Max. Simon excuses himself for a water break, leaving Max and Leon to play one-on-one, this time with Max guarding Leon. Leon spins forward and bumps against Max, making them topple to the ground, their faces too close. They stare into each other’s eyes, a moment forming between the two of them, before Simon breaks it by teasing if they’re going to play or if are they going to make out. That seems to wake Simon up from his stupor and he ends up leaving the two early to take a shower.

While washing up, Max’s thoughts are captured by Leon’s face with Simon’s voice echoing in his mind. His brain keeps replaying Leon’s smile, the pat on his shoulder, the way their skin brushed against each other, and Max starts touching himself until it crescendos. Realization dawns on Max.

Afterward, Max lets Anna listen to the song that he finally finished writing. Anna thinks it’s beautiful but Max is apprehensive. Anna asks if his parents know and Max says no. Anna gets silent for a few moments before helping him pick an outfit for the open mic.

With an outfit set and a song finished, the night of the open mic came quickly for an anxious Max. Eventually, his turn came and he starts singing to the audience which included Sabine and Christian. Max starts singing about being on stage at that very moment and how he thinks he couldn’t do it. He sings about putting up walls and hiding in his fortress. Max sings while looking at Leon as he tells the story of someone who’s looking at him, this someone being uncaring about who likes him and who doesn’t, and how he wishes he could be the same.

Leon starts walking closer to the stage. Max’s song talks about hiding in his fortress still but now with this special someone, which then moves to Max being open to leaving his fortress, saying he doesn’t want to hide anymore because he wants to see the world with this someone. Leon knows that it’s him. Max sings that he wants to be himself now that he knows it’s not wrong and the song ends.

Max saunters to where Leon is and they share a kiss that shocks Christian, much to the delight of Sabine. Christian ends up smiling though after having recovered and looks at Leon and Max who look at each other’s eyes with beaming smiles on their faces.

Writer’s thoughts:

Did that not remind you of ‘Heartstopper’? It was so cute and fluffy! I felt like the romance between the leads could have been developed further, but I’ll take what I can get from a 17-minute short film. The song was good too which was a nice bonus.

‘In A Moment’ is simple albeit a bit predictable. Clichés were present too: the understanding mother, the father who doesn’t want a gay son, the female best friend, and the teacher who has the perfect assessment of the student and his situation. But sometimes, we’re in the mood for clichés and that’s totally fine, not every film has to be groundbreaking. If you’re looking to watch something light and cute, give this a try!

Watch ‘In A Moment’ on GagaOOLala.