Metamorphosis: Movie Review

"Metamorphosis" brings to life a topic rarely talked about in cinema. The intersex topic is something new for us and the way it was molded into a coming of age narrative was certainly a delight. Bolstered by superb acting from Gold Aceron, the film was as dramatically deep as its premise.

Adam (Gold Aceron) is a 14-year old kid who is the only child to a devout Christian father (Ricky Davao) and mother (Yayo Aquila). Despite his family's religious background, Adam is known at school for his mischief and fights. One day, Adam starts to have menstruation and soon discovers that he was born as a hermaphrodite - having both male and female genitals. As Adam goes through a journey of self-discovery and acceptance, an impending decision also awaits him - to have the chance to choose the gender of his or her liking.

By design, "Metamorphosis" will tug at your heartstrings. It is formulaic to a fault but it is also a film that sincerely made us shed a tear. While the journey of Adam was not perfect and had some very rough spots, the bigger picture was successful in showing the dilemma and eventual acceptance of our lead character to who he or she truly was. The first thing that caught us was the beautiful and artistic cinematography from Director J.E. Tiglao. Particular scenes in the film felt like they really had purpose not only to tickle your eyes but also your mind. On top of that, the film had great acting from its cast especially Gold Aceron as a kid struggling to find his identity and acceptance not only from his own but also from his close-minded family. Where "Metamorphosis" struggles most was in its narrative development. Topics and conflicts are put out shotgun-style but never fully developed or resolved. Even serious topics such as a scene of harassment was just brushed off as if nothing happened. Some elements also felt forced and totally unnecessary such as the occupation of Adam's closest friend Angel. To end our review, while not perfect, "Metamorphosis" was a deep and substantial experience. It was emotionally-heavy and psychologically-moving. It seems like a waste though as with better and cleaner execution narratively, it could have morphed into a landmark film.

Rating: 4 reels





Why you should watch it:
- the cinematography was not only excellent but as deep as its story
- superb acting from Gold Aceron as a kid struggling to find his true gender as a hermaphrodite

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- topics and conflicts are left off midway or suddenly resolved without much consequence