The Boy Foretold by the Stars: Movie Review

"The Boy Foretold by the Stars" works because it thrives on its simplicity and straightforward approach. In fact, it's quite tame in the context of LGBT local films we have seen previously and it honestly works well with its high school setting. Even with its toned down approach, the film is still a deep and satisfying dive into its BL and LGBT core without any of the unnecessary baggage that typically bog down Filipino films in the genre.

Dominic (Adrian Lindayag) and Luke (Keann Johnson) are two senior high school boys who, even though they are batch mates, have never met each other. Dominic is gay and has a crush on another classmate of his and co-leads the optional school retreat, Journey with the Lord. Luke on the other hand has just broken up with his long-time girlfriend Karen. With his heart-broken, he decides to join the retreat as a means to find time to reflect. As destiny would have it, the two are partnered together and find that they have a strong and undeniable connection with each other.

"The Boy Foretold by the Stars" has this mainstream vibe to it which in our opinion actually worked to its advantage. In fact, it was a very approachable film as it plays around love in various ways and foregoes the more intimate aspects of it. Within the film, we see love tackled more as a means of special friendship, companionship, and kinship as Luke and Dominic bonds grew by the minute. This more innocent measure was by far our favorite thing in the film. We do understand that love needs affection and intimacy but there's this feeling of a purer love by removing its more sexual aspects. Additionally, the film's narrative was well-written and had great pacing overall. The development between Luke and Dominic was gradual but it never bogged down and the acting between leads were surprisingly great. Admittedly, our issues were mostly on the film hinging very heavily on the idea of destiny and having a soul mate. Given its very progressive ideas on homosexuality, it just felt a little off. Additionally, we also felt that the ending was too abrupt, the comedy was not as integral into its story, and it had weird casting issues like the actress used for the character of Karen looking a little out of place and out of age given the high school setting. Overall though, "The Boy Foretold by the Stars" even with its faults was an excellent first take and first film tackling the "Boy's Love" genre. The great story, chemistry, and script mixing together to provide an undeniably good experience.

Rating: 3 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- this was a very approachable film
- the story, chemistry, and script worked well together

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- hinges too heavily on "destiny"
- the comedic aspects were not integral to make the film successful