Midnight Dancers

A sequel of sorts to Lino Broca's botched Macho Dancer, Chionglo's likeable melodrama offers a moral (but not moralistic) panorama of gay life in Manila. Young footballer Sonny, new in town from the sticks, is introduced to gay prostitution by his two elder brothers, both of whom already perform as G-stringed macho dancers in a gay bar and support their mother by turning tricks. The film is let down by some weak performances and feeble fight choreography, but its feeling for the vagaries of rent-boy life is palpably sincere. Its best scenes centre on eldest brother Joel, who has a wife and child and a male lover and manages to keep all of them happy.