Last Full Show

Short films are a tricky balancing act - it's difficult to pack a lot of narrative and character development into a compressed time frame, and particularly to avoid getting caught up focusing too much on one thing. LAST FULL SHOW succeeds admirably in constructing a vivid world populated by complex characters in a relatively brief span of time.

The set-up is simple, with a young, well-to-do kid making frequent trips to an urban cinema known as a gay cruising joint. Inside, he's noticed by a handsome older (30s) man who takes note of his naivete and decides to initiate him on a lark. What starts with a furtive kiss soon blossoms into something deeper, and the two begin sneaking out to grab dinner. Unfortunately, these excursions catch the eye of the boy's chauffeur, and his unwanted attention threatens to put an end to the relationship.

What separates LAST FULL SHOW from so many starry-eyed paeans to (gay) first love is the complexity and depth it affords its characters and setting. In 19 minutes, the film fleshes out a complex social sphere within the cinema, using the Greek chorus of a couple regulars as a guide, before sending one of them down among the seats to become the young man's paramour. The complex relationship between these characters is one of the film's subtle highlights, with older patrons' bond left intriguingly open-ended, at times signaled as, potentially, close friends, past lovers, current boyfriends, or all three. The connection between the older and younger man is similarly diffuse, blossoming from physical attraction into something much more complicated. While some may blanch at this May-September pairing, it's important to recognize that in more conservative environments, such relationships often take on not only a physical aspect but a paternal one as well, with the older partner providing the acceptance, support, and guidance that a young gay man can't not hope to find through more traditional support structures. In depicting all of its relationships as so multi-faceted, LAST FULL SHOW elegantly articulates the complex roles of such forbidden relationships, which exist both outside the strictures of mainstream society while also striving to replicate its structures of support.

Given how elegantly the film fleshes out its characters and environment, I found the resolution to its narrative (which I won't reveal here) both a little pro forma and underwhelming. Nevertheless, LAST FULL SHOW remains a skillfully rendered portrait of underground gay life in the Philippines, as well as a strong debut from writer-director Mark V. Reyes. It's a shame we haven't seen too much more from him, since his freshman outing is definitely worth noticing.