Yes or No one and two focuses on a relationship between Tomboy Kim and feminine Pie. Yes or No 2.5 doesn’t focus on these characters but maintains the basic structure of the first two films; a sweet, cliche lesbian romance between Tomboys and feminine women. And I’m here for it. Like the previous two entries, Yes or No 2.5 straddles the line between being cute and being obnoxiously cliche. I am pleased to announce that while Yes or No 2.5 does have a lot of cliches and childish humour, it does fall more on the cute side of the spectrum. While it won’t be a happy ending lesbian classic like the first Yes or No, it’s definitely a stronger, less obnoxious film than Yes or No 2.
Yes or No 2.5 focuses on a love quadrangle between four women and also a bonus boyfriend who’s not a real romantic prospect. Roommates Pii and Wine are both tomboys. At the beginning of the film, two women named Fah and Pim move across the hall from them. Turns out, the girls know each other as they all attended the same college. During their college years, Wine carried a torch for Pim. However, Pim was not willing to date a woman and instead has a long-term boyfriend named Jade. Worried for her friend’s happiness, Pii tries to get Wine to move on from Pim by pushing her towards Fah. However, Pii’s matchmaking efforts i make Fah fall for her instead.
Like the previous two films, Yes or No 2.5‘s successes stem from the same place as its flaws. This is a very juvenile series of movies. There’s nothing surprising and nothing deep in terms of the plot. The characters are stock romantic archetypes who also don’t develop in any meaningful way. But, as I mentioned in my review of the first film, I’m kind of okay with this. This series by far the best option for preteens and young teenagers wanting to watch a WLW film. And there are so, so many heterosexual films that employ the same cliches Yes or No does. So I do consider it a sort of equality that at least there’s a few movies out there that are unabashed cliche romances complete with romantic speeches, stupid miscommunication plots and happy endings.
The film absolutely does prioritize cuteness over logic. Why would Pii, an experienced chef also have a bear mascot costume and just turn up at a festival so Fah can confess her feelings towards Pii to a random bear mascot who of course turns out to be Pii? There’s also a flashback scene of Wine and Pim walking home together and then it starts to rain so they share an umbrella. Then, would you believe it, they just happen to stumble upon a stray puppy in a box so they can be cute and affectionate with a random puppy for a few minutes. I absolutely did roll my eyes at moments like this. But again, maybe I’m too jaded to be the audience for this particular series. I still support cute lesbians finding puppies as a thing that exists at least once in cinema history.
The general theme of Yes or No 2.5 is the very simple one of, “love is love”. Same-sex relationships are good and normal and romantic. Everyone should respect them and queer people deserve to be happy. It’s a simple theme but done well. There’s a genuinely moving scene where Pim comes out to her parents with Wine’s support. Her father is upset but Pim’s mother accepts them and tells Wine to call her mother. It’s a moving, cathartic moment that’s wish fulfillment at its finest. And following this scene, Wine and Pim get married and the film ends with all four leads frolicking in the ocean. It’s nice sometimes to see a happy, queer narrative that’s not so bogged down in sadness and themes. However, I’m also a jaded adult and sometimes the simplicity of the story and its themes bothers me.
The film’s reliance on cliches comes at the cost of Pii’s characterization. She starts the movie being incredibly affectionate and emotionally smart. Her scenes with Fah are incredibly sweet and they have a lot of chemistry. This begins to switch once they’re in a stable relationship. Now, Wine and Pim are the core couple. As such, Pii and Fah are relegated to comic relief side characters. This means scenes of “funny” abuse when Fah questions Pii about girls she’s dated and Pii increasingly taking on the role of emotionally unavailable boyfriend. The end of the film has Wine and Pim getting engaged and later married. Pii roles her eyes, fakes being asleep so she doesn’t have to talk about weddings and teases Fah for her tears at the wedding. These are not actions that seem like they fit the emotional, affectionate, open women Pii began the movie as.
Technically, Yes or No 2.5 is an improvement on the previous two. The directing is really good. A lot of soft lighting makes the film look romantic and friendly. The film still relies far too much on montage but within those montages there are a lot of beautiful scenes of various characters having feelings framed against pretty backgrounds. The romantic moments in the film also sing. They’re sweet, adorable and well shot. There’s also less reliance on sound effects than previous movies. There’s still some but it’s much less than the other two so I’ll call that a win.
Two things hold true for me after watching all three Yes or No films. The first is that I respect this series’ place within the queer movie pantheon. These are films that are accessible and appropriate for a younger audience that celebrates queer relationships and gives its characters a happy ending. The other thing that holds true is that I’m not the audience. I’m too old and jaded to overlook the series’ reliance on cliches and stupid humour to fully enjoy them. Sill, I hope there are further entries into the Yes or No series. We need more films appropriate for a younger audience and we always need more films as unabashedly romantic and joyful as the Yes or No series.
Overall rating: 5.8/10
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Love quadrangles
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