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ariel alba
Fun, witty and charming film with good performances and an interesting premise
'The Boy Foretold by the Stars' is a charming 2020 Filipino gay romantic comedy about coming of age, romance, and exploration of sexual identity.
The film explores the love story between two teenagers in a Catholic school setting who, with the help of a fortune teller, find themselves on an optional school retreat called "Journey with the Lord."
Through a series of events dictated by astrology and destiny, the protagonists discover the true meaning of love and acceptance.
The story:
Written and directed by first-time trans director Dolly Dulu, who has said in interviews that the story is based on her own personal experience, this fun, witty and charming film, with good performances and an interesting premise, begins when two best friends, students of Openly gay high school at St. Francis Catholic School, Dominic and Timmy (John Leinard Ramos, in his acting debut), go to a fortune teller, Baby R (Iyah Mina), to learn about their love life. Baby R tells Dominic, the central character of the film, that he will meet his soul mate in a week, and gives him several signs that would indicate that this child is really the one the stars have predicted.
On the contrary to Dominic, who is in love with Paul (Renshi de Guzman - 'In Between' I and II), another classmate, but does not dare to confess his love, Timmy is more open when declaring his feelings to Joseph, his platonic love.
As they prepare to participate in the school retreat they frequently organize, a student signs up at the last minute: Luke Armada, the high school basketball star. And Dominic is assigned to be Luke's godfather.
Luke has a girlfriend named Karen (Rissey Reyes – 'Pearl Next Door', 2021). But they are having problems in their relationship because Karen is very busy and finally breaks up with Luke, who believes in destiny and always resorts to flipping a coin when making important decisions.
Although Dominic and Luke are schoolmates, they have never met, as they are in different groups and their interests are not the same. In addition, he spends much of his free time co-leading the optional school retreat.
Heartbroken, Luke attends the retreat as a way to find time to reflect on his breakup and his life. As fate would have it, the two boys team up and discover that they have a strong and undeniable connection with each other.
Letting Luke know that he is gay and asking if that will be a problem, Luke says no. When Luke and Dominic begin to open up to each other and become friends, Dominic is not thinking about a romantic relationship with the young basketball player. After all, Luke is straight. Luke has a girlfriend. Luke would never notice an effeminate boy like him, ideas that run through his head.
Then Dominic begins to notice the signs that the "manghuhula" predicted in the way his relationship with Luke is blossoming. For his part, Luke eventually becomes confused about his feelings for Dominic, as he grew up knowing that he is heterosexual.
And so begins their romance, which will be put in danger with the sudden appearance of Karen to reconcile with Luke, or by Luke being ridiculed by his prejudiced and homophobic friends, fruits of a society that hates and discriminates against those who are different, such as the Filipino, for get too close to Dominic.
Of characters and actors:
Adrian Lindayag is known in the Philippines as a former fashion stylist and supporting actor in plays and television series. Before becoming known to a wider audience thanks to this film, he had already starred in the musical "Rak of Aegis" and was part of the cast of the comedy "Oh My Dad!", on TV5. Meanwhile, Keann Johnson is a model which had appeared in dramatic anthologies.
In the film they play Dominic and Luke, respectively. By then, both had already worked together on the LGBT+ film 'Click, Like & Share', from 2020, under the direction of Topel Lee and Ricky Rivero. Adrian playing one of the protagonists, Your Road Monts, and Keann playing the supporting character Your Road Derek.
In the film, Adrian is believable in the role simply because he is very comfortable being effeminate and doesn't seem to act at all. His impressive acting skills have been demonstrated in other performances, especially with his role as King in Marahuyo Proyect, a 2024 LGBT+ series directed by JP Habac. If you haven't seen it yet, you don't know what a great work you've missed. I recommend it to you.
Keann is a definite find. He is a beautiful actor, a mass idol as a model and his presence in the media and digital networks, with stage and acting mastery. He is also fluent in English and pronounces all his lines in that language, which is an advantage. He is remembered for appearing in the BL drama 'Worth the Wait' and starring in the LGBT+ film 'Run', both in 2021.
Some thoughts:
Filmed before the Covid-19 pandemic, when the BL (Boys' Love) genre was not yet popular in the Philippines, "The Boy Foretold by the Stars" shows this conventional vibe that works in its favor and achieves audience applause. In fact, it is a very accessible film as it plays with love in various ways and gives up its most intimate aspects.
In this sense, love is approached more as a means of friendship, companionship, and complicity as Luke and Dominic's bond grows. This approach is very laudable, because although love needs affection and intimacy, there is this feeling of a purer love by eliminating its more sexual aspects.
The most fascinating thing about the film is not the romance, but its depiction of that love story within an endemic Philippine landscape: that of an all-boys Catholic high school, with teachers, student leaders and students in constant struggle to unite the dogmatic religious doctrine that marks homosexuals as sinners who will not be able to enter Heaven, and the diversity of sexual identities. Without being didactic, the film bravely refuses to bank on the safety and convenience of secularism and instead places romance right in the middle of expressions of religiosity.
In this sense, it is impressive how Dulu was able to avoid turning the film into an argument against Catholic conservatism. Well, although the film has scenes where characters are judged for being openly homosexual, for being effeminate, or discussing homosexuality as a sin, this only happens to confront the confusion and not to judge. It is magnificent how the director never loses sight of the objective of the film, which is none other than to celebrate the purity of love, regardless of gender.
There are some tender and touching scenes between Dominic and Luke. The film also has enough emotional highs and lows to satisfy any romance lover.
The development of the relationship between the two boys is gradual but never stagnates, and the acting between the leads is surprisingly great. However, I was always attentive to what for me was the main problem in a film that depends heavily on the idea of destiny and having a soul mate, because does destiny really have anything to do with love?
Although Timmy is the person who pushes Dominic to consult the fortune teller and get a reading, his story is left aside and forgotten, so the film focuses on the story of his friend and his romance with the boy the fortune teller predicted he would meet soon. I would have liked to see more of what happens to him.
In 'The Boy Foretold by the Stars', Dominic plays a gay man who comes out as gay to his close friends at school, but claims that he has not come out to his own parents. This makes one wonder, since his actions are so effeminate, that it is impossible for his parents not to quickly deduce what his sexual preference is.
The director is right by not populating her film with big names. Instead, he entrusted the roles of two high school seniors who find love with the slight help of fate and amid the prejudices of their all-boys Catholic school to two new young actors who, although they have previous experience in theater and television, they don't have the manufactured chemistry that might have fueled their pairing. And this makes the result much more natural and realistic.
Another of the film's achievements is that the director manages to conjure an impeccable passion in a school where religion, homophobia and machismo are pillars, and creates a homosexual romance to support. Even if all the twists and beats of the film are familiar and predictable, it still convinces and succeeds, as it thrives on its simplicity and direct approach.
The film has good production and technical values. The narrative flow is smooth and the setting of the Catholic boys' school is used to great advantage to establish the setting of the story.
Its narrative, based on a well-written script, has a great pace in general.
In summary:
'The Boy Foretold by the Stars' is a fun, witty and charming gay film that follows the blossoming love relationship between two students at a strict all-boys Catholic school, in which one of them is openly gay and doesn't believe in destiny. , while the other is heterosexual and decides everything by flipping a coin.
Produced by Jodi Sta. María under Clever Minds Inc., The Dolly Collection and Brainstormers Lab., the film seeks to unravel themes such as growing up queer in a Catholic school, facing homophobia and sticking to your faith, whether queer or not.
One of its most interesting aspects is that it is not afraid to portray the effeminate gay, a trope that is often used in secondary characters and other times as a stereotype to denigrate the homosexual. In this film, destiny is as real as the people who experience it.
Without being apparently subversive and through a formula that favors tradition, 'The Boy Foretold by the Stars', considered the "first Filipino BL film", finalist in the feature film section at the 2020 CineFilipino Film Festival, opens a path for making homosexuality visible in a strongly patriarchal and heteronormative society, while encouraging escapist cinema to go through the realities of coming of age.
Despite its imperfections and lack of coherence when it comes to its visuals, especially as its few visually pleasing scenes are interspersed between prolonged and unspectacular passages, the film is visually pleasing, and brings a much-needed dose of positivity into a world in which hatred and discrimination against homosexuals prevails.
While it will make you reflect, the story, which has its conclusive closure in the series 'Love Beneath the Stars' (2021), will captivate you and leave you smiling.
The film explores the love story between two teenagers in a Catholic school setting who, with the help of a fortune teller, find themselves on an optional school retreat called "Journey with the Lord."
Through a series of events dictated by astrology and destiny, the protagonists discover the true meaning of love and acceptance.
The story:
Written and directed by first-time trans director Dolly Dulu, who has said in interviews that the story is based on her own personal experience, this fun, witty and charming film, with good performances and an interesting premise, begins when two best friends, students of Openly gay high school at St. Francis Catholic School, Dominic and Timmy (John Leinard Ramos, in his acting debut), go to a fortune teller, Baby R (Iyah Mina), to learn about their love life. Baby R tells Dominic, the central character of the film, that he will meet his soul mate in a week, and gives him several signs that would indicate that this child is really the one the stars have predicted.
On the contrary to Dominic, who is in love with Paul (Renshi de Guzman - 'In Between' I and II), another classmate, but does not dare to confess his love, Timmy is more open when declaring his feelings to Joseph, his platonic love.
As they prepare to participate in the school retreat they frequently organize, a student signs up at the last minute: Luke Armada, the high school basketball star. And Dominic is assigned to be Luke's godfather.
Luke has a girlfriend named Karen (Rissey Reyes – 'Pearl Next Door', 2021). But they are having problems in their relationship because Karen is very busy and finally breaks up with Luke, who believes in destiny and always resorts to flipping a coin when making important decisions.
Although Dominic and Luke are schoolmates, they have never met, as they are in different groups and their interests are not the same. In addition, he spends much of his free time co-leading the optional school retreat.
Heartbroken, Luke attends the retreat as a way to find time to reflect on his breakup and his life. As fate would have it, the two boys team up and discover that they have a strong and undeniable connection with each other.
Letting Luke know that he is gay and asking if that will be a problem, Luke says no. When Luke and Dominic begin to open up to each other and become friends, Dominic is not thinking about a romantic relationship with the young basketball player. After all, Luke is straight. Luke has a girlfriend. Luke would never notice an effeminate boy like him, ideas that run through his head.
Then Dominic begins to notice the signs that the "manghuhula" predicted in the way his relationship with Luke is blossoming. For his part, Luke eventually becomes confused about his feelings for Dominic, as he grew up knowing that he is heterosexual.
And so begins their romance, which will be put in danger with the sudden appearance of Karen to reconcile with Luke, or by Luke being ridiculed by his prejudiced and homophobic friends, fruits of a society that hates and discriminates against those who are different, such as the Filipino, for get too close to Dominic.
Of characters and actors:
Adrian Lindayag is known in the Philippines as a former fashion stylist and supporting actor in plays and television series. Before becoming known to a wider audience thanks to this film, he had already starred in the musical "Rak of Aegis" and was part of the cast of the comedy "Oh My Dad!", on TV5. Meanwhile, Keann Johnson is a model which had appeared in dramatic anthologies.
In the film they play Dominic and Luke, respectively. By then, both had already worked together on the LGBT+ film 'Click, Like & Share', from 2020, under the direction of Topel Lee and Ricky Rivero. Adrian playing one of the protagonists, Your Road Monts, and Keann playing the supporting character Your Road Derek.
In the film, Adrian is believable in the role simply because he is very comfortable being effeminate and doesn't seem to act at all. His impressive acting skills have been demonstrated in other performances, especially with his role as King in Marahuyo Proyect, a 2024 LGBT+ series directed by JP Habac. If you haven't seen it yet, you don't know what a great work you've missed. I recommend it to you.
Keann is a definite find. He is a beautiful actor, a mass idol as a model and his presence in the media and digital networks, with stage and acting mastery. He is also fluent in English and pronounces all his lines in that language, which is an advantage. He is remembered for appearing in the BL drama 'Worth the Wait' and starring in the LGBT+ film 'Run', both in 2021.
Some thoughts:
Filmed before the Covid-19 pandemic, when the BL (Boys' Love) genre was not yet popular in the Philippines, "The Boy Foretold by the Stars" shows this conventional vibe that works in its favor and achieves audience applause. In fact, it is a very accessible film as it plays with love in various ways and gives up its most intimate aspects.
In this sense, love is approached more as a means of friendship, companionship, and complicity as Luke and Dominic's bond grows. This approach is very laudable, because although love needs affection and intimacy, there is this feeling of a purer love by eliminating its more sexual aspects.
The most fascinating thing about the film is not the romance, but its depiction of that love story within an endemic Philippine landscape: that of an all-boys Catholic high school, with teachers, student leaders and students in constant struggle to unite the dogmatic religious doctrine that marks homosexuals as sinners who will not be able to enter Heaven, and the diversity of sexual identities. Without being didactic, the film bravely refuses to bank on the safety and convenience of secularism and instead places romance right in the middle of expressions of religiosity.
In this sense, it is impressive how Dulu was able to avoid turning the film into an argument against Catholic conservatism. Well, although the film has scenes where characters are judged for being openly homosexual, for being effeminate, or discussing homosexuality as a sin, this only happens to confront the confusion and not to judge. It is magnificent how the director never loses sight of the objective of the film, which is none other than to celebrate the purity of love, regardless of gender.
There are some tender and touching scenes between Dominic and Luke. The film also has enough emotional highs and lows to satisfy any romance lover.
The development of the relationship between the two boys is gradual but never stagnates, and the acting between the leads is surprisingly great. However, I was always attentive to what for me was the main problem in a film that depends heavily on the idea of destiny and having a soul mate, because does destiny really have anything to do with love?
Although Timmy is the person who pushes Dominic to consult the fortune teller and get a reading, his story is left aside and forgotten, so the film focuses on the story of his friend and his romance with the boy the fortune teller predicted he would meet soon. I would have liked to see more of what happens to him.
In 'The Boy Foretold by the Stars', Dominic plays a gay man who comes out as gay to his close friends at school, but claims that he has not come out to his own parents. This makes one wonder, since his actions are so effeminate, that it is impossible for his parents not to quickly deduce what his sexual preference is.
The director is right by not populating her film with big names. Instead, he entrusted the roles of two high school seniors who find love with the slight help of fate and amid the prejudices of their all-boys Catholic school to two new young actors who, although they have previous experience in theater and television, they don't have the manufactured chemistry that might have fueled their pairing. And this makes the result much more natural and realistic.
Another of the film's achievements is that the director manages to conjure an impeccable passion in a school where religion, homophobia and machismo are pillars, and creates a homosexual romance to support. Even if all the twists and beats of the film are familiar and predictable, it still convinces and succeeds, as it thrives on its simplicity and direct approach.
The film has good production and technical values. The narrative flow is smooth and the setting of the Catholic boys' school is used to great advantage to establish the setting of the story.
Its narrative, based on a well-written script, has a great pace in general.
In summary:
'The Boy Foretold by the Stars' is a fun, witty and charming gay film that follows the blossoming love relationship between two students at a strict all-boys Catholic school, in which one of them is openly gay and doesn't believe in destiny. , while the other is heterosexual and decides everything by flipping a coin.
Produced by Jodi Sta. María under Clever Minds Inc., The Dolly Collection and Brainstormers Lab., the film seeks to unravel themes such as growing up queer in a Catholic school, facing homophobia and sticking to your faith, whether queer or not.
One of its most interesting aspects is that it is not afraid to portray the effeminate gay, a trope that is often used in secondary characters and other times as a stereotype to denigrate the homosexual. In this film, destiny is as real as the people who experience it.
Without being apparently subversive and through a formula that favors tradition, 'The Boy Foretold by the Stars', considered the "first Filipino BL film", finalist in the feature film section at the 2020 CineFilipino Film Festival, opens a path for making homosexuality visible in a strongly patriarchal and heteronormative society, while encouraging escapist cinema to go through the realities of coming of age.
Despite its imperfections and lack of coherence when it comes to its visuals, especially as its few visually pleasing scenes are interspersed between prolonged and unspectacular passages, the film is visually pleasing, and brings a much-needed dose of positivity into a world in which hatred and discrimination against homosexuals prevails.
While it will make you reflect, the story, which has its conclusive closure in the series 'Love Beneath the Stars' (2021), will captivate you and leave you smiling.
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