Asog

Asog’s strong themes and loud main character make it as entertaining as it is unsubtle.

“People who want too much do too much.”

The docufiction style, where real life and narrative film meet, has been something of a growing genre of late. Films like Solids by the Seashore and The Return are a perfect encapsulation of a real-life issue, or talking point, presented through the often more-digestible lens of fiction. This allows a story to reach more people without letting go of their key messaging, and can have quite an impact. Seán Devlin’s Asog carries on this tradition, by combining a classic road movie with a message about land ownership, and standing up for what is right.

Comedian and activist Rey “Jaya” Aclao plays a version of themselves: a teacher in a local high school, who performs with their partner Cyrus (Ricky Gacho Jr) in nearby queer stage acts. Money is tight, especially after the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda. Jaya wants to enter into the Ms Gay competition in Sigocon with Cyrus, but he can only join a few days later due to work purposes. Jaya encounters one of her students, Arnel (Arnel Pablo), while travelling. Arnel is also travelling to Sigocon in order to get money from his dad for his mother’s memorial service. The two agree to travel together. Meanwhile, in the documentary side of things, the residents of Sigocon Island are struggling. After the typhoon devastated many of their homes, land developers arrived and bought out, or even stole, a bunch of land from them in order to build luxury condos and resorts.

Asog, is a movie that had a couple of things on its mind, and doesn’t immediately know quite which ones to focus on. The documentary and the fiction sides don’t gel incredibly well, at least not initially. The story of Jaya and Arnel travelling together, opening up to one another and growing as people seems to be the main focus, and while the actors are ostensibly playing themselves, there’s not much factual stuff going on. It’s mostly a story of loss and attempting to rebuild – a theme that will come up later – but comes across a little like Walking Alone for Thousands of Miles, where non-actors gave a sense of realism to what was, ultimately, a work of fiction.

It’s a bit all over the place, so it’s good to know that the movie is carried by its star Jaya who steals the show in every scene. Their performance is silly and camp, as one might expect, but layered with levels of self-doubt, love for Cyrus, and frustration at a world that seems inherently against them. Pablo is a bit more subtle, playing his awkward teen character really well. He’s the one who shows the most growth throughout, and comes out of his shell enough that he’s happy to join Jaya on stage, in full drag. His quiet charisma makes an excellent foil to Jaya’s more over the top and sillier performance.

The scenery does do some of the heavy lifting here, guiding us through scenes that can be a bit tedious. Those gorgeous shots of the Philippines serve a purpose, however, by enveloping us in the natural beauty of the country, because things change when it blends into documentary and the island of Sigocon comes into play. There the plot better integrates what it wants to say about the land, and is able to merge the queer themes of being yourself and not being put down by others with the environmental and social themes of the local villagers trying to get by when a corporation has stolen all of their land. If you came looking for cinematic refinement, you won’t find it here, but it’s nonetheless very effective. Asog wants you to know that, even when you’re swarmed, you can’t let mosquitos win.

Verdict: With its loveable characters, and effective messaging, Asog is very in-your-face. But, hey, so is its main character.

Overall entertainment: 7.5/10
Violence: 0/10
Sex: 0/10
Comedy: 7/10
Baffling moments: We have ghosts, puppets, and googly eyes galore
Macho: Frogs smoking cigarettes, of course

Asog (2023)
Tagalog

Director: Seán Devlin
Writers: Seán Devlin, Rey Aclao, Arnel Pablo

CAST

Rey Aclao – Jaya
Arnel Pablo – Anel
Ricky Gacho Jr – Cyrus
Raul Ramos – Raul
Amelia De la Cruz – Amelia