The Boy Foretold by the Stars is a story inspired by the personal experiences of its writer and director Dolly Dulu. The film is a refreshingly different Metro Manila Film Festival entry specifically in content amid being a gay film, or in today’s parlance, Boys Love movie.
To start off, sorry for the spoiler (though its the only thing I am dishing out from the movie), there will be kissing scenes, but don’t expect more than that. The strength of the film lies not on salacious and daring moments but on its sharp script and the natural acting skills presented onscreen by leads Keann Johnson and Adrian Lindayag.
Adrian is Dominic and Keann is Luke, both students in an exclusive school. The two boys belong to different worlds as they move into separate campus cliques. That situation is about to change, thanks to a fortuneteller who correctly predicts that the two high school seniors would be joining a school retreat. What follows is a bittersweet journey of growing up and finding one’s identity.
Adrian is a reliable actor, Keann, on the other hand, makes love with the camera without even knowing it. When together, they deliver their lines naturally as if they are not acting at all.
Dominic is portrayed delicately as an effeminate young gay man and Dulu was very precise about it. Luke, meanwhile, is everything but a lovable young man who makes rapid connection with Dominic in a way he couldn't explain.
The story of Dominic and Luke is very simple—naturally complicated just like any other romantic tale. And that’s the beauty of The Boy Foretold by the Stars. It’s not pretentious or an obvious expression of a writer who couldn’t fulfill a Boys Love fantasy in real life.
For a relatively young director, the BL movie is a masterpiece, a passion project that is well crafted. Every scene is pleasing to the eyes and every dialogue is believable. The only thing that you could probably hate about it is the fact that you’re liking it despite not having a boy and a girl locking lips before your eyes.
Watching the film on the big screen (at the Sine Pop microcinema in Cubao, Quezon City) gave me a different feeling, almost nostalgic because nine months of not being able to watch a movie in a cineplex felt like it was already many years ago. There were only 10 scribes allowed to see the film and based on what I had witnessed, everyone in the room approved of the film when they erupted into loud applause after the last scene.
It is a movie foretold by the stars to pull on people’s heartstrings this Christmas.
