January Movie Digest: Sakaling Maging Tayo, Born Beautiful

There are dozens of little things in JP Habac's Sakaling Maging Tayo that feel very familiar. It's a quirky, talky millennial romantic film, a genre that has gained popularity in the past few years. It takes place in a scenic location: Baguio, also the setting of romantic comedies like Labs Kita, Okey Ka Lang? (1998). It even reuses the trope of one of the characters chasing after the other as the latter gets on some sort of public transport (though in this case, it's tweaked a little bit.)

Yet at the same time, Habac injects his own spin to liven things up a bit. Sakaling Maging Tayo is only partly a love story. Like his previous film, I'm Drunk, I Love You (2017), the film serves also as a reflection of the numerous insecurities young people face as they cross into adulthood, though framed from a different perspective.

In contrast to the previous film, Pol (McCoy De Leon) and Laya (Elisse Joson) are both starting out in adult life (the film even makes it a point to make them freshmen instead of the graduating students of I'm Drunk, I Love You). Here, they suddenly face problems bigger than just grades and acne: Laya is faced with life-changing responsibilities, and Pol encounters relationship issues for the first time. The youthful impulse here is to run away from these problems and not face them. Indeed, Laya and Pol dare each other throughout the film with numerous tasks, but ironically cannot face their own problems head on.

The film holds its breath, hesitates a bit, and dwells in what ifs, the title itself reflecting that notion. It is only when both characters take that one first step forward that things begin to resolve themselves. That's basically what adulting is: being unsure of what is to come, with no one to hold your hand, but daring to go forward anyway.

The follow-up to Jun Lana's Die Beautiful (2016) was originally a TV series. Somewhere along production, the series was transformed into a feature film. And while Born Beautiful is a completely joyous, pleasant enough movie, echoes of its TV past still remain.

The film follows Barbs (Martin Del Rosario) following the events of Die Beautiful. She works in a funeral parlor, doing makeup for the dead. The film then goes into three story arcs, each relatively self contained. Though the film has been reworked to fit into the film format, the episodic nature of the story arcs can be seen in the final product, and the ending will prove to be too much of a tease for some. (I propose a beki  cinematic universe style crossover for the next installment).

But that's beside the point. The film is hilarious, offering humor that is irreverent, edgy, and purposeful. The team of Jun Lana and Perci Intalan have used mainstream cinema to talk about gender topics and issues, notably last year's Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes and Distance. Born Beautiful is no different: it's a positive portrayal of a person coming to terms with her own gender identity, and it does so in an entertaining, relateable way. There's also some discussion about sex work, though that particular sideplot isn't fully formed - yet.

Born Beautiful is a very fun ride, and it is mainstream cinema that I wholeheartedly welcome. Though the film runs into a couple of hurdles in its transition from small screen to big screen, it's enjoyable as a whole.