Dali is living a happy, comfortably gay life with his family — his openly gay dad, his dad's boyfriend, his supportive mom, and his adoptive siblings, most of whom are gay men too. But it all changes when he meets Angel (Iana Bernardez), a pageant queen with whom he falls in Love at First Sight. Now, Dali has to come out to everyone... as straight.
The film was released on November 16, 2022. It was directed by Perci Intalan (former husband of The Panti Sisters director Jun Robles Lana, who is also a co-producer for this film) and written by Fatrick Tabada (Patay na si Hesus).
In March 2023, the film became available to stream with English subtitles on Prime Video.
Tropes
- Almost Kiss: Dali and Angel's kiss at the end is interrupted by her dad.
- Be Yourself: This is the ultimate message of the movie. Dali tries to be more masculine just to prove that he's straight and win Angel's heart, but it doesn't work out for him, and he realizes that Angel liked him just the way he was, even though she had her own prejudices at first.
- Camp Straight: Dali, very much so. He isn't at all attracted to other men, and exclusively likes women, as he explains — that's why he's straight. But because he's so very Camp, other people refuse to believe it. Well, Marga does, but Romy makes fun of her for it, even though she turns out to be correct.
- Casting Gag: In The Panti Sisters (2019), directed by Intalan's husband Jun R. Lana, Christian Bables played Samuel, a Camp Gay man forced to pretend to be a masculine straight guy to earn his father's approval. His mom, Vilma, briefly tried to get him to pretend that he was "just metrosexual," to no avail. In this movie, Bables plays a character who actually is straight despite being very camp. His heterosexuality is what displeases his openly gay father in this movie.
- Dance of Romance:
- Dali and Angel dance at a nightclub as the love song "Marikit" by Juan Caoile and Kyleswish plays, though at this point she's still convinced he's gay and the "romance" part is one-sided on Dali's end.
- In the ending, Dali and Angel dance together to "Kapag Tumibok Ang Puso" by Donna Cruz, which leads to an Almost Kiss.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Upon meeting him, one of Angel's brothers remarks that Dali almost looks as pretty as a girl.
- Flirty Stepsiblings: Marga at least tries to be this with Dali, but he pays her no attention.
- Happily Married: Of the Platonic Life-Partners variety. Jaime and Gemma are husband and wife legally, and they are harmonious co-parents to their kids, but they are not at all romantically or sexually attracted to each other. Well, Gemma was at some point in time, but at present day, she's fully content being her husband's purely platonic best friend as he dates other men.
- Incompatible Orientation:
- Gemma was attracted to Jaime when they were younger, but he came out as gay. That didn't end up posing a real problem to their partnership, though, as they became Platonic Life-Partners.
- Subverted with Dali. Jaime worries that Dali is just pretending to be attracted to women. So does Angel, and... well, most people who meet his new "straight" persona. But he really is attracted to women.
- Freddie hits on Dali, who is too straight and oblivious to even realize.
- Love at First Sight: Dali is instantly smitten with Angel, complete with slow-mo and romantic music, thanks to her beauty.
- Oblivious to Love: Marga has been in love with Dali for years and he's totally unaware until she tells him. Though, to be fair, they were raised under one roof as adoptive siblings.
- Queer Romance: Played with. Dali is a man who is attracted to women, despite being super campy. The main romance in the movie is his burgeoning relationship with Angel, a woman. But Dali is clearly not a traditionally masculine man, and he embraces the "bakla" label at the end though he enters a fully-fledged romantic relationship with Angel. He can be seen as a gender non-conforming straight man. There's also Jaime's relationship with his boyfriend, and lots of gay men being attracted to other men.
- Testosterone Poisoning: Angel's family is this. Her mom is nowhere to be seen, and her dad and brothers are all hypermasculine straight men who believe that Men Don't Cry.
