In the back streets of Manila amidst a vibrant transsexual community Dorina who is known as the ‘Doc’, is the purveyor of quick fix beauty enhancements. In a culture obsessed with looks and glamour this ex-entertainer provides the necessary collagen implants so that the ‘lady-birds’ can be transformed into a replica of their favorite female celebrity. With the next round of the Miss Gay 2013 Pageant about to happen Dorina is kept very busy trying to make sure her ‘clients’ are pretty enough to win Best Face as well as Best Gown Categories.Originally from Japan, she drags her young nephew around all her appointments, even to see the Spectacular Show that her boyfriend performs in for tourists. Their relationship is on the wane although he is still happy enough to fuck her as long as she doesn’t remind him about the remaining part of her masculinity which is evidently large than his.
Just as Dorina seems like she cannot keep up with the demand for her services, there is a fatal accident involving ‘Mamma’ who is trying to correct a procedure that went wrong on one of the girls, and suddenly Dorina starts having her serious doubts about the reality of her work. Especially when she discovers exactly what she has been inadvertently injecting instead of collagen like she thought.
This colorful drama from Filipino filmmaker Eduardo Roy Jnr gives an insightful look into this marginalised part of society and the high price they pay to achieve the lives they aspire too. It’s not simply all as dazzling and pretty as the costumes they like to deck themselves in.
P.S. If you have Trypanophobia or any other form of needle phobia, you may want to miss one, as there is an awful lot of them being used.
