Die Beautiful

It's easy to dismiss this movie as a glorified episode of 'Maalala Mo Kaya', what with all the stereotypes presented (abusive father, gay for pay, beauty contests), but once you get to the gritty parts (the movie is rated R-13 for a reason) you'll know that you're in for so much more. And it will be confusing. Do you want more? Or will you want it to stop? For this screening at least, I didn't see any one stand up from their seat and walk out of the movie. But there were still quite a few that made inappropriate remarks to pass off as comedy. And really, that's a reflection of how society treats the LGBTQIA + community: we are tolerated but is not necessarily accepted. And that's what the movie hopes to show you: our struggles are the same as yours, but how come we're treated differently? How come we have to work twice as hard and not even get some of the things you take for granted? How different will your life be if it didn't have a single LGBTQIA+ member in it? Will you want to live in a world where all of us died beautiful instead? The answer at least for the last one you'll get when the main character eventually gets to be asked the only question she knows the answer to.

Pros: -Inspired performances from Paolo Ballesteros and Christian Bables, both deserving of their acting awards. Christian stood out more because for the most of us this is the first time we're seeing of him so there weren't any expectations set. -Also of note is Luis Alandy. He was in it for only a short time but he gave the performance of a lifetime. I think this will be as good as it gets for him. -Paolo's makeup transformation was woven seamlessly into the movie and is actually one of the highlights as you're looking forward to who they'll show next.

Cons: -While I like Eugene Domingo, her cameo seemed forced and the story would've moved along just fine without it. -Lily Monteverde will make money out of this.

Trisha, a Philippinas transgender woman, has gone suddenly. Her friends had done dead her face make-up like Hollywood actress for seven days and looked back her life. To be honest, I'm not good at the movie about LGBT because it's tough mostly. But this one is humorous. The make-up scenes were beautiful and delicate. It reminded me the skills of painting for crafts. I felt their respect for her from the cinematography. They enjoyed joking and laughed even in front of the remaims, but their way for seeing her off was ideal.

Trisha didn't hold an grudge against God which gave her a body of man. She just wanted to say 'I made my body you gave beautiful like this!' in heaven. The most beautiful point was her personality.

'I can only fill the space which has the shape of me.'

Love almost everything about this movie. Love the acting of the baklas. Love Paolo/Tricia. Ayaw ko Lang is the so old and tired acting of Joel Torre. Sawa na ako sa ganong acting.

Actually I recommend everyone to watch this, not just Filipinos, and here's why. The Filipino film industry has been known to be...lackluster. Its list of LGBT movies is not that impressive, a lot of it is stereotypical and borderline offensive. However, Die Beautiful is a gem in Filipino cinema. This film is about the life of Trisha, from childhood until adulthood. It has a nonlinear story line and the scenes blend perfectly. Every shot is stunning, especially for a movie without a mainstream Hollywood kind of budget. This is a comedy, but far from the typical slapstick and low blow jokes we see these days. It's funny without being offensive or overly dramatic. The story does not disappoint either. It is relevant to the issues important in the world today and very heartwarming. Each one of us can relate at one point or another. A film of love—friendship, romantic, and familial. Definitely worth your 2 hours. One of the best entries in MMFF and generally all of Filipino cinema.

This is a good movie for a society which has become appreciative of LGBTs over time. The movie tells the story (and struggles) of Trisha Echevarria (Paolo Ballesteros), a transgender who was disowned by his rich father and survived on his own by joining beauty contests. He adopted a young girl and raised the family by the meager amounts he get from joining these pageants. Typical struggles of transgenders were given emphasis in the film: discrimination from the family, from the community, and from men. The title is Die Beautiful because it shows his life in throwback form: he starts dead here. He instructed his bestfriend that in case he dies, he should be shown beautiful in his coffin. He has to look like "someone" in all the 7 days of his wake.

The two-hour runtime may seem long to some, but I even think it was not enough. I wanted to see more. I even expected it to be light-hearted all through out because gay humor. But what I didn't expect is that it was very heartwarming and dramatic. Paolo Ballesteros deserved the awards that he got (both local and international) because he did really cement his role perfectly. He was a boy, he was a gay, he was a celebrity, became a transgender--all in this film! He was a son, a daughter, a sibling, a mother, a bestfriend, a pageant candidate, and a celebrity look-alike. Paolo Ballesteros has now become a household name because of this.

I have to give a shout-out to the other lead star in the film: Christian Bables. He was perfect in his role as the bestfriend of Trisha. Both leads were amazing in their portrayals.

Highly recommended.