August 28, 2025
A group of young street hustlers who hung around seedy movie-houses of Manila cruising for guys who wanted a piece of their flesh. They were Uno (Jomari Angeles), Bayani "Kuya Bay"(Argel Saycon), Rush (Tommy Alejandrino) and Miguelito "Ge" (Gold Aceron). One night, Uno was picked up by a customer who wanted a threesome with him and another gigolo, an obvious newbie named Zion (Miguel Odron).
That same night, an unfortunate and very serious drug-related accident happened to one of Uno's friends while he was servicing a client. While he lay dying, he wished to be brought back to his hometown to die. The other boys went out of their way to bring their friend by bus to Painawa, his last known address. They learned that his brother (Vic Robinson) was a pastor of the town, so they went looking for him first.
Petersen Vargas's auspicious directorial debut was also a queer coming of age film, "2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten" (2016), Best Picture of the CinemaOne Filmfest that year. His last three directorial jobs -- "An Inconvenient Love" (2022), "A Very Good Girl" (2023) and "Un/Happy for You" (2024) were big box-office hits featuring big movie stars. This film, the first both written and directed by Vargas, brings him back to the LGBT indie scene where he started.
In the main cast, Aceron is the veteran, Ordon is the ingenue, the other three only began their careers during the pandemic. Playing the two central roles, Angeles and Ordon had very strong screen presence individually and an electric chemistry together. Saycon's height and his heft made him look older than the others (though Angeles was really older). Cinemalaya 2022 Best Actor winner Alejandrino shone in the heavy dramatic scenes.
"Some Nights" felt like two films mashed up together. The sticky and steamy first part was about the decaying underbelly of a big city where desperate boys brazenly plied their skin trade, and something began to develop between two of them. All this initial sleaze would soon evaporate as the film turned into a road trip of sorts. There were touches of dark humor here and there, as the story built up to a sentimental test of true friendship.
Painawa may have been a Pangasinan word meaning "to rest," but ironically, the "virtuous" church there was so intolerant it won't even provide shelter to a prodigal son who was down. Vargas weaved in literal and metaphorical scenes of abuse, ridicule and rejection experienced by LGBT sector. The vivid cinematography of Russell Adam Morton and the dissonant musical score of Aly and Moe Cabral enhanced Vargas's bold storytelling. 6/10
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