The Panti Sisters

I have high hopes for The Panti Sisters (2019) mainly because of Die Beautiful (2016). But that does not mean I believe it can replace the latter. Based on the trailer and synopsis, I already knew that this will be lighter.

I honestly enjoyed the film from start to finish due to several funny and cute scenes. Paolo Ballesteros, Christian Bables and Martin del Rosario are great together. However, these were not enough to overlook the problems.

The film left some gaps making me feel a little unsatisfied. For instance, the transition from one situation to another was too abrupt. I wasn't ready for the change of tone and could not quite process the next scene. So when that scene arrived, I wasn't able to react accordingly.

Though there is no doubt that the actors especially the great John Arcilla (Heneral Luna) can draw the right reaction from the audience, there was something lacking. And that would be the depth of the characters as well as their relationship with each other. So that when the time one of them leaves the plot the audience will feel sad.

Don't get me wrong. I don't need a "Dramarama sa Hapon" type of drama. I just wanted to feel the right emotions when something tragic happens to one of the characters. And most importantly, not think if this certain character is essential to the story.

Anyway, it does say in the film listing The Panti Sisters (2019) is under comedy. But since something tragic happened doesn't mean it does not deserve a proper execution.

When I stumbled upon the 2019 Filipino comedy titled "The Panti Sisters" on Netflix, of course I opted to watch it. I mean, with a title such as that, and with it being a gay-themed comedy, I figured that there would be a chance that writer Ivan Andrew Payawal would deliver something enjoyable here.

The storyline in "The Panti Sisters" was actually fair enough, but was somehow lacking an ingredient to make it outstanding. Now, I am not saying that it was not an enjoyable movie, because it certainly was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, but I had just hoped for more laughs and comedy in general. But writer Ivan Andrew Payawal and director Jun Lana just didn't deliver on what I had hoped for.

The acting performances in "The Panti Sisters" were good, and especially actor Martin Del Rosario stood out in the movie with his performance.

The transformation of actress Carmi Martin into a plastic surgery recipient looks rather realistic, although it was grostesque and monstrous at the same time. But it was great, because it definitely caught the trend of what many plastic surgery recipients end up looking like; being freaks of surgically enhanced nature.

Watchable for what it was, I doubt that I will ever return to watch "The Panti Sisters" a second time, though.

My rating of director Jun Lana's 2019 comedy "The Panti Sisters" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I was excited to see this offering on Netflix thinking that it could potentially be the Philippines' answer to the drag queen movie genre of the past such as "to Wong Foo" and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". Both of these movies, while not considered the greatest films ever made, excelled in story-telling, were well-acted, entertaining and funny, yet explored the more complex and deeper sides of the drag queen subculture. Sure, some of the plot twists were bizarre but yet they did not take away from the realism and authenticity in the characters being played.

The Panti Sisters actually started out with a great background plot. Three flamboyantly gay sons with a penchant for wearing make up and gender-bending outfits were called upon by their insanely-rich ailing father in his mansion. The challenge they were given was to produce an heir in exchange for their inheritance. The rest of the movie follows multiple plot twists by the three sons as they attempt and commit failures in meeting the challenge.

Unfortunately, the movie relied too much on gay, lesbian, and "gay ally" stereotypes for cheap laughs at the expense of elevating the background story to a deeper understanding and acceptance of the realities of openly flamboyant gay men in the Philippines beyond that of traveling circus clowns and court jesters. All it did is to solidify the all too common "gay character" in Philippine cinema (typically played by straight actors) as caricatures for comic relief lacking in substance or character development enough to make them uninteresting.

The three main actors could definitely act, there's no question about that. To their detriment, the scenes they were asked to portray did not seem genuinely real-life scenarios and were ingeniously exaggerated to create hilarity for the sake of being outrageous. It made the characters one dimensional including the ones in the supporting roles who mostly seemed capable of doing better acting. It left an unsatisfying void of a movie that can surely make an audience laugh out loud yet fail to leave a lasting impression.

Warning: this review gets a little political in some parts so proceed with caution:

The Panti Sisters follow the story of three sisters gone their separate ways and are called back upon by their father whose dying wish is for them to produce him an heir and whoever succeeds in return will inherit all his riches. While it is entertaining, it's a bit painful to watch them go through hoops in order to get the reward (let's call it as it is) and in a way their father's love and approval that they've been yearning for all their lives. So there's a feeling of we're laughing at them rather than with them which did not happen in Die and Born Beautiful movies. But this can still be spun positively, the movie being brave enough to take on the patriarchy and showing that even if you're already set in your ways, you can still change and be a more understanding, ergo better member of society. Notice I said UNDERSTANDING and not TOLERATING.

Paolo Ballesteros was dependable as per usual, Christian Bables was great and it's a good thing his management allowed him to work on a role similar to Die B, reason why he skipped taking on Born B which eventually led to Martin Del Rosario taking over for him. Martin was enjoyable here and seems to be the most popular among the three at least based on reactions from social media. In a way he deserved the Best Actor trophy at the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino film festival, because at the very least he was able to separate his Born B and Panti S roles and I would like to think this is a recognition more on his work on the former than the latter. The rest of the cast bannered by John Arcilla and Joross Gamboa were effective, a testament to Panti S bagging the PPP's Audience Choice Award.

If your first instinct is to wonder if this movie is connected to Die/Born Beautiful movies, it's perfectly okay because all movies were from the same creators but distributed separately: Die B - Regal Films, Born B - Cignal Entertainment, Panti S - ABS CBN films, that's why they look and feel similar but does not seem interconnected (as we know so far). Thanks to the demand for content with different viewing platforms coming out of the woodwork, movies such as these three that would normally be rejected outright due to it's theme are starting to see the light of day. So maybe on that note, do not mistake this country is now open to treating the LGBTQIA + community as equals (refer to the Restroom brouhaha a few weeks ago and the surprising Anti Sogie bill sentiments that came from those you considered as friends), but rather as entertainment fodder for consumption when you need a quick laugh or two. Maybe that's the problem, the demand was high and deadline was tight (Die B was released Dec 2016, Born B came out 3 yrs after, Panti S followed just 8 months after) that's why when compared to the first two, Panti S struggles a little to hold a candle. Looking at their current IMDB ratings, Die B is at 7.8, Born B is at 7.8 and Panti S is only at 6.5. Just the same, Panti S is still worth your time, this trio is better than the combined output of Vic, Bong and Vice.

I've watched a dozen of LGBTQIA+ movies but the story and the plot twists of this movie were outstanding. The story was a remarkable representation of generation gap and their beliefs.

HOWEVER, the cast was terrible, the dialogues felt stale, and the humor was horrible. This story had so much potential but it was a waste being executed so terribly. I hope there's a remake of this movie in the future with better direction and I can feel it in my gut that'd it'd be a hit.