BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“When you stop living your life based on what others think of you, real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self-acceptance open.” – Shannon L. Alder
This is a phenomenal movie on a lot of different levels. First, it is a story not filled with a lot of Adonis-type characters. Not that the actors are bad looking; they are not. But the traditional mold of having guys who look so stunning that you are afraid to go near them or GQ models and for whom no one that I could possibly relate to, was absent and it was refreshing. These guys I understood. They were real and represented the gay community for a change. Second, the use of fortune telling and destiny in a Catholic setting was just a stroke of genius. Third, the religious instructors explained the real meaning of God, the Catholic Church, and Love in an all-encompassing and compassionate and accepting tone. (Ironically, what the Church as an all-encompassing entity professes to believe, but refuses to acknowledge, except by those few enlightened ones who are willing to state it, has been adopted/taught/accepted/ by the Church for a long time. It just does not want that to be known). Fourth, it had effeminate gay characters as leads and supporting roles that made sense and lead the storytelling into new directions. Normally I detest ‘over-the-top’ gay effeminate characters whose only duty is comic relief or to add some stereotypical gay people behaving the way they are ‘supposed’ to act. But these characters were real and represented actual gay people in our society who are effeminate, and their mannerisms are a natural and real part of who they are. Fifth, there are no ‘adults’ in this series to add artificial drama or try to act as the guiding light in changing their behaviors. This was mostly a story with, for, and about teenage boys who fall in love with teenage boys and they alone must resolve their own dilemmas.
This was a simple story of serendipity, perhaps fate, and/or destiny. You choose. It involves Dominic (Adrain Lindayag), an ‘out’ student (except to his parents) who is gregarious, vivacious, astute, and empathetic. He is very involved in his Catholic school’s activities. One of his friends convinces him to get a reading of his fortune by Baby R (Iyah Mina), a reader of cards. He picks cards that she interprets to mean that he will meet his soulmate, but he must be open and give the relationship a chance. In the meantime, Luke (Keann Mickyle Johnson), is a soft-spoken, someone pensive and introverted individual who has just been dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to go on the Journey (to God) retreat in which he is paired as his senior with Dominic.
The two of them almost instantly form a bond of friendship and admiration for each other. Dominic begins to slowly believe that he indeed might be the one that Baby R says could be his soulmate. Luke also has his own destiny that he believes in which is a flipping of the coin. It seems that every time he flips the coin, it destines him to be with Dominic. However, his friends think he is spending too much time with Dominic and cajoles him into keeping his distance from him. There is a very painful breakup between the two of them in which Dominic says to Luke that he thought he was better than that, and more secure in his own masculinity to maintain this friendship between the two of them.
Dominic with much pain and anguish tells Luke “Goodbye”. (Luke has this believe that you should never use the word good-bye to a loved one or friend as that implies you will not see them again. My family, which are not Filipino, have the same belief as well. So, I was well aware of this tradition). However, Luke, while confused and frightened by these feelings, continues to rely on his coin for direction and always the coin continues to lead him back to Dominic. When he returns, Luke confesses his feelings and not only do they embrace but also kiss. However, the girlfriend, Karen (Sherise Diane Reyes comes back into the pictures and Luke returns to her because she is his ‘first love’. How this ends is, for me, a cinematic triumph and has to be experienced personally. So, I leave that up to you.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the movie? This one is easy to award. It belongs to Adrain Lindayag as Dominic. This is not a bad reflection on any of the other actors but more because of admiration. Here is a gay guy playing a gay role in a BL series which makes it special for me. There was an extra attention to the nuances of his role that you could feel come through. It is as if he was drawing on his own life’s experience (purely conjecture on my part). But the air of sincerity, the pain of rejection, the taunting of being called names seemed extra poignant on his face and in his movements. His character was more effeminate than in any other BL series, yet he was still the ‘hero’. Usually, these effeminate roles are for comic relief, or distraction, or for mocking. In these cases, I find that insulting and derogatory and stereotyping gays. But in this case, we have an effeminate character as a lead and he is able to defend himself, and develop a bromance, and eventually fall in love with a ‘straight’ guy. In fact, the ‘straight’ guy falls in love with him. This is such a nice change and again represents another milestone in the liberation of what is ‘attractive’ or even ‘sexy’ for gay men. It was nice to see and feel that not just the model gay is capable of love, but we all are. The ordinary. The non-Adonis. This was a pioneering effort without being moralistic or shoving it into the face of society. The character showed grace, dignity, character, and integrity and a pillar of principle. And to do so in such a Catholic climate made it all the more meaningful for me. I believed he would not let the Church dictate his behavior or convince him that his love for Luke was any less real or more sinful than a straight couple.
This is a movie and so you can get a full and complete picture of the story in one setting. For the most part, the production was good, but the editing of some scenes left me confused especially chronologically. The ending was a bit abrupt as well. But overall, this is an excellent movie and I enjoyed it a lot. There characters are so relatable and the story with its interesting mix of religion, fortune-telling, and destiny made for an engrossing story.
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