BORN BEAUTIFUL

Philippines, 2019, 96 minutes, Colour.
Martin Del Rosario, Paolo Ballesteros, Lou Velos, Chai Conacier, Kiko Matos, Akihiro Blanco.
Directed by Perci M. Intalan.

Sexual identity, issues of gender, issues of sexual orientation, an emphasis on gay themes, have been significant in the Filipino film industry. These themes are quite a preoccupation with many of the writers and directors in the industry. There has been an emphasis on transgender, the police and drag queens, a revelling in camp style.


This is a sequel to the 2016 Die Beautiful, a group of friends, one of whom dies. She appears in this sequel but dies again. In this film, the focus is on Barbs (Martin Del Rosario), a former queen in the local pageant, encouraging the group of friends, supervised by a veteran drag queen who manages a business for preparing the dead for burial, specialising in making the dead look like local or, especially, Hollywood stars.

Barbs has a boyfriend, Greg, who is married, stands her up at the parade and later comes insisting on the relationship. In the meantime, at the pageant procession, she is eyed by Michelangelo, begins a relationship with him, but he also has a wife whom Barbs meets and seems to be compliant about the relationship. Later, there will be dispute about the two boyfriends, Barbs going into another competition, the competition always having some kind of personal question, and she failing to answer in time about what love means to her.

In the meantime, Barbs has a change of heart, is influenced by a pamphlet about conversion therapy, goes back to being Bobby and participating in the therapy with several gay men. The leaders claim to be the equivalent of a church but audiences instantly realise that the two leaders are repressed gay men who eventually assault Bobby. In the meantime, as a test of his masculinity, he has an encounter with a prostitute.

Bobby, disillusioned, returns to being Barb and, in the midst of the dispute with the two boyfriends, the prostitute comes to say that she is pregnant and that Bobby is the father. Bobby is in denial, the young woman arguing her case.

The immediate solution seems to be an abortion but Barb screams each time the process begins and eventually persuades the young woman not to have the abortion, being willing to care for the child. However, the visit to the doctor indicates that her condition is an experience of gas.

The film was continued in the 12 part television series of the same name with all the same characters and going over some of the themes.