Rating: ****
A 12-year-old gay, like the orchid floating on dark waters on the first scene, Maxi is a beautiful accent in the rough reality on the situation of Manila. Living in a squatter’s area with his father whose job is a thief and two older brothers, Maxi gleefully helped his loved ones with love. Maxi fulfilled the role of the light of the family in the absence of femininity and their deceased mother. The movie flowed with Maxi through his world of shopping, beauty pageants, and a local DVD hangout that screens movies for abundant audiences of poverty-stricken children.
In the later part of the film, Maxi’s emotions blossomed late one night, coming from his beauty pageant with his gay friends, when he was rescued from neighborhood thugs by Victor, a kind youthful cop. Lovestruck with the handsome policeman, Maxi begins to feel pulled between his criminal family and the law and romance that Victor materialized.
As part of an internationally well-applauded cast, my favorite characters are the newcomers Nathan Lopez and JR Valentin who exuberantly portrayed their roles as Maxi and Victor. With its lively cinematography seen even at the first part of the film, simple plot, and vast emotional burden, Auraeus Solito’s directorial debut as a dramatic digital filmmaker was a great success that we Filipinos should be proud of. It is one of the finest Filipino films, shimmering with folkloric allure without alleviating its view of the harshness and injustice of a life in poverty.
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