It's a sin would have had the title The boys, but had to change its name to avoid confusion with the superhero series of the same name (2019).
Now it got the hot It's a sin instead - a little less gossip you might think, but at the same time Pet Shop Boys old listetta from 1987 is an excellent companion to this vibrant story of secret joy of life under heavy loads of shame and self-pity.
It's a story about
a bunch of young friends / lovers / partners who explore London's gay scene in the 80's, the decade when HIV / AIDS went from whispers about a secretive "gay cancer" to a worldwide pandemic.
We follow three young boys: the puppy Ritchie (Olly Alexander) who drops out of the legal line to become an actor, the flamboyant Roscoe (Omari Douglas) who flees his Nigerian family after a failed demon expulsion and the wonderfully shy and friendly tailor Colin (Callum Scott Howells ).
Together with the kind-hearted Jill, who will soon be the heart of the gang, they move into a dilapidated apartment, called The pink palace.
There, both day and night are captured in an endless series of parties that are woven together into an ever stronger bond of togetherness and family.
But the boys dance
on the brink to an abyss.
The year is 1981 - the same year that HIV / AIDS would become known to the world for the first time.
We suspect early on that the rose-cheeked boys who get lost so hungry in the hedonistic London night will hardly make it to the end.
The first sign is when Henry (played with a fantastic British accent by the American Neil Patrick Harris) - a friendly older gay man who takes Colin under his wings - suffers from a sudden illness.
His boyfriend of 30 years has had recurrent colds and the handcuffed doctors ask if they have had contact with birds.
Soon there is a mouth guard and insulation compartment with a lock from the outside.
Later funeral homes
that refuse to accept infected bodies and families who burn the property of their dead - for fear of infection or out of disgust.
It's as dark as it sounds.
At the same time, it is impossible to defend oneself from the story's bubbling joy of life and light: the party, the love, the friendship - everything burns the strongest as the comet approaches.
And The pink palace gang stands in the last shoulder by shoulder before death.
It's gripping.
After each episode, it is as if a sugar drink is bubbling in the chest.
It's a sin urges us
to capture the day, to show solidarity with our loved ones, to see the beauty and fragility of life.
These are not small ambitions, nor far from pure banalities.
But in the face of such a completely emotional tone, it is only a matter of capitulating.