Hex Boyfriend (2023)

A cute teen romance directed at teens, though the final stretch was rather clumsily handled.

There are a lot of things to enjoy about this short webdrama. The premise rather reminded me of some of my favorite movies and shows growing up (anyone remember "Good Witch" (US/CA)?). It made me feel nostalgic. I also really liked the supportive dynamic between the Female Lead and her mother. The Female Lead herself was interesting - a well-balanced combination of insightful, angry, and awkward.

Under it all, there's this message of being the kind of person that doesn't let hatred affect you. To be forgiving. To clap back with facts and proof. There's some merit in these messages, for sure. Especially for the teen/kid audience this was obviously geared to. And in the end, these messages paid off. But I feel like with the prejudice and harassment being as heavy-handed and center-stage as it was, that more action should've been taken. Especially prior to the end.

The romance had its cute moments too. It was definitely one of those awkward teen romances that I think many viewers could relate to. It also had this touch of maturity that comes with 2 teens that were forced to grow up too fast in single-parent households. My problem though came in at the end of episode 4, where the Male Lead acted completely out of character. And then, just as fast, was back to being his normal self immediately into episode 5. Not only did the fact that this was out-of-character bother me, but also the fact that it was introduced and disbanded so fast that it might as well not have been there at all. There were other ways to up the tension just that little bit more.

Also, just a petty complaint: I wanted magic. :'(

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