A screenshot from The Boy Foretold by the Stars
Catch it on GMovies/Upstream
The movie opened with a series of drone shots — a view of the landscape and the facade of the school, where the whole story will unfold between the two protagonists.
By the looks of the big cross from the next scene, it’s a religious school. An all boys’ school but there’s something distinct about it. The femme and out gay students take the first row of the chapel’s pews and they head their school’s retreat called Journey With the Lord. Here we see Dominic and his friends being who they are — the loud gays who your teachers sort of… despise. Well, perhaps not really despise but the center of sermons of you can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t have them!
The beginning of the film would perhaps make you feel that this school welcomes everyone despite the clash of beliefs between religion and sexuality but that’s way too good to be true. When Dominic asked to borrow her friend’s pink fan, their teacher confiscated the fan and told him it’s not allowed in the chapel. He is not allowed to use it because it’s only for girls.
Then we see Luke. The handsome basketball captain of the school holding a one peso coin, sitting improperly. The same teacher scolded him but not it a pesky tone. To add, Luke asked if he can borrow the fan and the teacher gave it away after making him promise he’ll win the practice match. So Luke gets the fan but Dominic losses it. How hypocrite was that?
Luke is a guy who cannot decide on his own hence the coin; he always lets the coin decide for himself. Will he wait for his girlfriend? Heads or tails. Will he call his ex-girlfriend so they can go to their secret place? Heads or tails. Will he go to the soiree? Heads or tails. Will he stay or will he go? Heads or tails. What does he want? He doesn’t know. For the love of God. Make up your mind, boy.
On the other hand, Dominic, our gay lead, does not believe in destiny. He also doesn’t believe in fortune-telling until one day, his friend and him went to Quiapo to buy stuff for the retreat but with a side trip to Baby R. The fortune teller whose forecasts are 99.5% true. She’s known as a matchmaker. Almost all of her predictions were true. With all the signs laid in front of Dominic, he suddenly decided to believe on these forecasts that perhaps, his soulmate is just around the corner.
So this is a story between Dominic and Luke. Luke with a troubled relationship with his girlfriend Karen and Dominic who has a crush on Paul but ends up thinking Luke is the boy foretold by the stars.
The Clash Intersection of Signs
I initially thought I’ll call this part The Clash of Signs but thinking about it, the signs did not clash but they intersected. Perhaps, just like what Luke said, “Destiny brought me to you.”
From Dominic who didn’t believe on fortune-telling, to Luke who always just relies his decisions on “destiny” with his magical coin, and to God’s words, “We find love in the most unexpected places and the most unexpected times” we just have to be open to it, I felt that the film had an effort to put these things together and they all met at one point.
The film heavily used the optional school retreat to tell an LGBT love story and a religious school as the milieu. I won’t say homophobia wasn’t seen because it was, of course, but the story didn’t dwell much on it unlike other LGBT films. There’s this one scene where their theology teacher discusses about homosexuality and how the Bible should be read and interpreted (differently). Props to that! The Boy Foretold by the Stars showed you can be gay and be a Christian. But it also showed that just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you are not an asshole (yes, Philip). Also, gays weren’t portrayed negatively but just as who they are — their colorful lives, along with their struggles. However, I hated the scene where Timmy, Dominic’s friend, said something about an “outing practice”. Perhaps it’s a gay friends' thing so I couldn’t comprehend why it’s something… acceptable in the circle.
Aside from the intersection I’ve mentioned, I’m glad the film casted LGBT actors for LGBT roles. However, the rise of BL stories really makes me think of capitalism behind it. Really glad this one has a good representation. Also, the film used biblical names. Haha!
The storytelling wasn’t exceptional (I felt I was reading a short story) but it was smooth and light at the same time. It’s structured in a way that the almost 2-hour length won’t get tiring despite all the push and pull. It was something for the teens and I think it would resonate with them more than how it resonated with me (Medj wala siyang sapak para sa akin). It’s one of those films that provided representation to young gay boys who would like to see themselves on the screens. That it’s possible for them to know what love is, find it, be in love, and be loved in return.
I’m giving the film a 3.5 out of 5. Could’ve given it a 4 if it wasn’t the ending: “Fuck it!” (finally, Luke naman!) And also because I think it can still be shortened instead of having it for nearly two hours.
Wala talaga ako masabi. Tinry ko lang kung makapag susulat pa ako hence the review-reviewhang super sabaw.
Namamahalan ako sa ticket, honestly, maski gets ko naman ang point na mas marami na makanonood sa household (and yes to support Filipino films, ako pa ba?). Perhaps because I watch alone. Also because, comparing it to other film fests where they allowed you to pay for bundled tickets and you can use your passes for the whole duration of the festival, you can only access one film for PHP250.00 for 24 hours for MMFF.
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What do you think, Awesome?