WALANG duda na isa ang Born Beautiful sa mga maipagmamalaking pelikula na umarangkada ngayong 2019. Isa itong comedy-drama na kapupulutan ng aral, lalo na sa LGBT community. No doubt, sasakit ang inyong tiyan sa katatawa paglabas ninyo ng sinehan.

Directed by Direk Perci Intalan, it’s a much-awaited sequel to the smash hit Die Beautiful, which premiered at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2016 and was an official entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival in December that same year.

Sa Die Beautiful na pinagbidahan ni Paolo Ballesteros, si Jun Lana ang director at sa Born Beautiful ay ang partner naman niyang si Direk Perci ang nagdirehe sa bidang si Martin Del Rosario.

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Sina Direk Perci at Direk Jun ang film producers ng Born Beautiful, just like in their first movie, working under their own production companies, ang The IdeaFirst Company and October Train Films, alongside Cignal Entertainment.

Pinamumunuan din ni Direk Jun ang writing team, consisting of Rody Vera, Elmer Gatchalian, Patrick Tabada, and Ivan Andrew Payawal.

Showing na simula nitong Miyerkules, ginampanan ni Martin sa movie ang role ni Barbs, isang make-up artist who can make the dead look like celebrities, gaya nina Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, at iba pa. Si Christian Bables ang gumanap na Barbs in the first installment, Die Beautiful.

Born Beautiful picks up from where Die Beautiful has left off and lives up to the standard that its progenitor has set in tackling the lives of transwomen.

Sa Born Beautiful, nahihirapan si Barbs na mag-move on sa pagkamatay ng kanyang pinakamamahal na best friend na si Trisha (Paolo), especially when another BFF of hers, Princess (VJ Mendoza), meets a tragic end.

Barbs takes those unfortunate events as signs for her to revert back to her masculine ways, so she enters a reformation facility as Bobby and undergoes a conversion therapy.

She soon finds herself in a traumatic situation, and leaves the facility in a huff.

Enter the late Trisha’s ex-lover Michaelangelo (Akihiro Blanco), a taxi driver who happens to be driving around the area. Sparks fly as Michaelangelo drives Barbs to Barbs’s old employer, Mama Flora (Lou Veloso), who owns the Happy Ending Funeral Homes.

Barbs gets warnings from her colleague and close friend Kennie (Gio Gahol) and their new co-workers, who turn out to be exes of Michaelangelo. Eventually, nalaman ni Barbs na very much married si Michaelangelo, but she continues seeing him because his wife is cool about their setup.

Hanggang sa bumalik ang ex ni Barbs na si Greg (Kiko Matos), at nangakong hindi na siya sasaktang muli, kaya naman torn between two lovers si Barbs.

Worse, a sex worker named Yumi (Chai Fonacier), whom Barbs had met during her Bobby phase, suddenly turns up at the Happy Ending Funeral Homes announcing that she’s heavy with a child—and the father is Barbs!

Nawindang si Barbs at ‘di alam ang gagawin until she gets divine intervention through Trisha.

Tulad ng Die Beautiful, Born Beautiful is effortlessly funny, hilarious especially when Barbs and her friends rehearse for a beauty contest and eventually participate in one.

Barbs’s scenes with Trisha are also hilarious, but always with heart.

The comparison to Die Beautiful doesn’t end there as its sequel likewise touches on the drama and difficulties that gay men and transwomen face and try to overcome.

But Born Beautiful comes into its own by tackling the subject of polyamory, or the practice of having more than one consensual sexual, romantic, or emotional relationship.

This aspect isn’t fully discussed, though, because the movie is actually a compressed version of five episodes of a TV series of the same title that will be aired soon on Cignal TV.

Thus that’s the only way to find out what happens to the unusual setup of Barbs with Michaelangelo, Greg, and Yumi.

The movie’s entire cast, led by Martin del Rosario and Lou Veloso, with Paolo Ballesteros in special participation, did a good job in bringing life to their characters and their scenes together.

Napakagaling lahat ng aktor sa Born Beautiful, hindi kinaya ng audience (lalo na ‘yong nakapanood ng advance screening sa UP Cine Adarna) ang mga binibitawan nilang Rated SPG na mga salita, that’s why the movie initially got an X-rating from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

Pero nang iapela ng mga producer sa pamunuan ng MTRCB ang kanilang ratings, na babaan from Rated-18 to 16, may ilang napagkasunduang adjustments sa maseselang eksena, kaya ang Born Beautiful ay mapapanood na in cinemas in two versions: the original R-18 and the sanitized R-16.